Could we do it?
by alwayshp
Summary: Rose and Dimitri spend a month in Baia together.  Will they give into their desires?  What dangers lie outside the safety of the wards?  Set after Frostbite.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone! Hope you enjoy! Read and Review. Much love-C**

_**Disclaimer: I am not Richelle Mead not matter how much I wish I was. On second thought, I would rather be Rose. She gets Dimitri.**_

DPOV

"Headmistress, I really think this would be a good learning opportunity for Rose," I pleaded my case for the third time that week.

Kirova's face stayed neutral as she challenged me. "Guardian Belikov, what could she possibly learn there that she cannot learn here?"

"With all due respect, mam, that is not my point. I will be gone for a month. A month will be a long time for her not to have lessons with me. She will get rusty, out of shape. She has come so far; I would hate to see her fall back now." I was always proud when I talked of Rose's accomplishments. Sure it made me look good, but I would be proud of my Roza anyway.

"You do make a good point. You are her prime motivator. The princess doesn't push her hard enough. She seems to rely on the bond, like Miss Hathaway did before she came back. She needs Vasilissa for her mental well-being. She seems to keep her calm, but she needs you just as much, if not more."

"I agree. However, I would also like to bring up another point. With everything that happened in Spokane last month with her friends and Mr. Ashford's death, I think it would be good for her to get away for a little while. She may put on a brave face, but I can see through it. She is hurting. I think going somewhere that has no direct reminders of that incident would help her move on."

My heart broke for her. I do not disagree that she did wrongly by going alone, but grief is never an easy thing to handle.

The headmistress sighed and looked at me thoughtfully. "Alright, Guardian Belikov, you have convinced me. Rose may accompany you for the month. However, I would like weekly reports on her activities. I will not let this be a vacation for her. She has a princess to protect in a few short months. If that is all, you may be excused."

I smiled inside. She was never one to beat around the bush.

"Thank you, Headmistress. We will not fail to conform to your standards." I inclined my head politely and proceeded to the door.

"Guardian Belikov," I turned around to face the headmistress once more. "Take care of Rose," she looked at me with a knowing smile.

"You know I will."

I walked across campus reflecting on my conversation with Kirova. It had not gone as badly as I had expected. Of course, she gave me conditions like sending her reports, but I had gone in thinking the worst.

I made my way across the quad to the novice dorms. We would be leaving tomorrow. Rose would for sure give me hell for not giving her enough time to pack. I chuckled to myself. It was not like she would pack in advance anyway. Always doing things at the last minute, my Roza. My heart leaped thinking of her. She knew my feelings for her. I knew her feelings for me. It did not make a difference though. We could not act on those feelings. We had to protect the princess at all costs. We couldn't and wouldn't let our feelings get in the way. _They come first_ I repeated in my head.

I had made it to her door. I took a calming breath before knocking. She had no idea what she does to me. Just as I was about to knock, I heard a sob break loose from her. She always tried to hide her grief from me. It never worked though. I knew her too well. But even now, her sobbing caught me off guard. I had never heard her this vulnerable. She would shut me out even more if she knew I had heard so I knocked loudly and tried to make it seem as if I had no clue what was going on behind her door.

Rose opened the door, no longer crying. The red around her eyes lingered. I kept my guardian mask in place.

"Dimitri, what are you doing here? Am I supposed to be at practice or something?"

"No, I just came to tell you to pack your bags. You have permission to accompany me to Baia for the next month. We are leaving tomorrow at 8:00am."

"Woah. Hold up there comrade. Tomorrow? You could have at least given me a warning. I have to do laundry and then pack and then tell Lissa goodbye. I have to tell my teachers that I will be gone. I will have so much work to do. Dimitri, how could you just spring this on me!"

"Rose, calm down."

She looked as if she was about to retort. Apparently she thought it would get her nowhere, so she looked up at me.

"Everything will be fine. You will be fine. I will be fine. We will be fine. You have time," I said as I pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. She seemed to calm at my touch. Damn it. This is getting us nowhere.

"I have to be on duty in five minutes. Tomorrow-8:00am." I turned and walked out the door, shutting it firmly behind me. A month away from school—just us and my family. She was my student. We could not let anything happen between us. A whole month—could we do it?

**A/N-so how was it? Comments and constructive critisism are appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

RPOV

I knew Dimitri had heard me crying. His guardian mask could only hide so much from me. Others might have no idea, but I always knew with him. Some days I wished he could just hold me as I cried, tell me everything would be okay. I needed his strength, but I couldn't have it. Nothing could ever happen between us. We could love from afar.

I sighed and got up off the bed. Typical Dimitri had given me less than a day to get ready for a month away. I looked around my room, otherwise bare except for the clothes strewn everywhere. I got my laundry bad from the corner and gathered up my stuff. This was going to take a while.

Just as I was about to open the door, Lissa came storming in.

"Rose! How can you be leaving for a month! I will never make it that long without you!"

"Woah, Lissa. Calm down. How did you know I was leaving for a month?"

"I saw Dimitri on my way back from the feeders."

"Oh…" At least that was one less thing I had to do—break the news to my best friend.

"But seriously, Rose. I don't know what I am going to do without you."

"Liss, you will be fine. You have Sparky and Adrian. Eddie will still be here, too." I could feel her stress through the bond.

"I know that Rose. That was not my point. If I am going to be practicing spirit with Adrian, I need you here to take my darkness." Lissa was to the point of tears by now. We had never been apart longer than overnight since the accident.

I gave Lissa a hug and lead her to the bed. "Lissa, you have people that love and care about you here. They may not be able to take away the darkness like I can, but they won't let you hurt yourself or anyone else. Adrian knows better than anyone about the darkness. Just don't medicate like him." I smiled to myself as I thought of Adrian's 'medication'.

Lissa smiled at me and I could feel her calming down. She pulled me into a tight hug. Not that I wouldn't miss her, but I was going to be with Dimitri. This was going to be harder for her. At least I could slip into her head to make sure she is okay. She had to rely on phone calls and emails from across the world.

Lissa stood up. "I promised I would meet Christian in the church attic. I will see you later."

"I really did not need to know that, Lissa."

"Sorry," she said smiling, "I just wanted to warn you in case you wanted to pop into my head when you get bored waiting on your laundry."

I groaned and threw my head back on the pillow. "Goodbye, Princess!" I said with a playful harshness."

"Bye, Rosie Posie!"

I would never admit this to her, but I was jealous. She got to live a semi-carefree life. She could date whoever she wanted. She could go to college. She didn't have someone else's life in her hands.

_They come first._

I would never blame Lissa, nor would I ever fail to protect her, but sometimes I just wish my life wasn't planned out. I would live in whatever house Lissa wanted. I would go to whichever college she wanted. I would take whatever classes she wanted.

I shook off my jealous thoughts. She was my best friend. I had to keep her safe—end of story.

Laundry beckoned.

It is a good thing Lissa was always buying me new clothes or I would be constantly wearing dirty ones. I hated laundry with a passion. I had just forcefully slammed the dryer door shut when I heard a low chuckle behind me. I turned around to face an amused Dimitri.

"What? I hate doing laundry."

"Yes, Rose. You make sure that I know that fact every time you are forced to do it."

I scowled at Dimitri.

"Can we spar tonight? I have to hit something soon!"

"Only after you run."

"I hate running almost as much as doing laundry. And don't say that you already knew that because you seem to always know everything." I sighed in exasperation. Why did he have to know and understand so much about me! Granted, I knew and understood as much about him.

"Seven o'clock. Don't be late, Roza."

I watched my Russian god leaving. I sat down and watched my clothes spinning around in the dryer. It reminded me of my life. Random colors spinning around, never stopping for a break. I still hadn't fully recovered from losing Mason. I felt as if it was my fault. I should never have told him about Spokane. I felt a tear slip down my face. I was glad nobody else was in here.

The dryer buzzing brought me out of my thoughts. I looked at my watch 6:45. I loaded all my clothes in my bag and went straight to the gym. As usual, Dimitri was already there reading one of those stupid western novels. I would never understand his fascination with them. Dimitri looked up at me from his position on the mat.

"20 laps, then we spar." No other words, just that. He went back to reading and I headed back out in to the cold to run.

My philosophy on running in the faster I run, the faster I am done. My times had improved drastically since I started training with Dimitri. Catching my breath, I walked back inside.

Sparring with Dimitri was oddly sexy. The way we hungrily went after each other showed our passion, and the way we anticipated each other's moves showed our understanding of each other.

"Damn it!" I yelled as he got a blow to my side. I really should stop thinking about this when I was sparring.

"Language, Roza." Dimitri—the ever calm, ever level headed person.

We fought hard. Sometimes I would beat him. Not often, but when I did, I couldn't help but notice the proud affectionate look on his face. This motivated me to fight harder. We fell to the ground. If I could only keep him down. I maneuvered myself on top of him. I wouldn't let him move. This was my fight to win.

It was only after a few moments that I noticed our position. My core was right above him. My hands were on his perfectly toned chest. His eyes bore into mine with such passion. I could feel his love. I could feel him growing hard underneath me. Breathing heavily, we just stayed there—neither of us moving.

Dimitri, the one with self control, finally said, "Roza, we have to go. Our flight leaves early tomorrow." He moved me off of him. He knew I had felt him, so I don't think he cared that I saw him leave for the showers. A whole month away from the academy with him. Could we do it?


	3. Chapter 3

DPOV

I took off as fast as I could to the showers. Damn it! She had no idea how much she affected me. Okay, she felt me, so she has some idea. God, I have to get this under control!

I showered as quickly as I could. I tried to keep my mind of Rose. I tried to think of seeing my family in two days. I couldn't wait to see how much Victoria had grown—and my little nephew Paul. I missed so much being in America. Leaving my family in Baia was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. However, I was a guardian, and guardians do their duty. I loved being at St. Vladamir's and being the princess's sanctioned guardian, and I met Rose—shit! I had to stop thinking about her!

I got dressed quickly and headed to meet with Alberta to talk about the other guardians covering my shifts while I was away. I walked over to the guardian building and knocked on her door.

"Dimitri, how are you?" Alberta greeted me as she welcomed me into her office.

"Very well, thank you. I hope all is well with you."

"Of course, of course. Well, I know you have things to do to get ready for your trip, so let's not waste time."

I listened intently as Alberta read off the schedule of my replacements. I made few comments, knowing that it was not my place to question her authority. She wished me well for my trip and sent me on my way.

On my way back to my room, my phone rang.

"Belikov—yes—alright—9am—thank you—have a nice night—goodbye."

I changed my course to go to Rose's dorm room. Someone had just called me to inform me that our flight had been moved back an hour. Rose would be pleased. She had just got an extra hour of sleep. I do not understand her. She would sleep the whole day on the plane. I figured that sleeping was a waste of time. Necessary, but a waste at that.

I heard the water from the sink running, so I knocked on the door harder than usual. She yelled an indiscernible reply. A few seconds later she was opening the door with a toothbrush in her mouth. A small moment of embarrassment flooded her face, but she quickly recovered. I smiled internally.

"Dimitri, what are you doing here?"

"I came to inform you that you will get an extra hour of sleep tomorrow as our flight has been moved back."

Rose tried to reply, but the toothbrush and toothpaste was making it difficult.

I sighed in exasperation. "Roza, go finish and then we will talk." God, this girl was going to kill me.

"Okay, Comrade," I made a face at her nickname for me, "so be there at nine right?"

"Yes, but I probably should have let you think it was still eight so you might be there on time." Rose was known for her perpetual lateness.

"I am not always late. I just do not like wasting time by getting somewhere with minutes to spare."

While she droned on about how she hadn't been late to practice in a while, I let my eyes casually look over her body. I was careful not to let her catch me. She couldn't know what kind of hold she had over me.

"See something you like, Comrade?" Shit! She caught me.

I stuttered a moment before replying, "Goodnight, Rose."

I left her dorm quickly. How could she catch me? I was not being obvious and she was not the most observant person when it came to things other than her guardian duties. I had to get this under control if I was going to spend a month with her at my home. No school, no fellow guardians, no headmistress—just us and my family. This could either be very pleasant or very bad

"Oh Roza."

I ran my hand along her thighs, slipping around back to give her perfect ass a squeeze.

She moaned as she moved closer into me, threading her fingers through my hair. I moved my hand slowly, teasingly along her slick folds, never quite giving into what she wanted.

"Dimitri, I need you. Touch me."

I gave her a sly smile, as I left my hand circling her center. I brought my mouth to suck on her luscious breasts. She moved her hand under my shirt, tracing the outlines of my muscles. Grabbing the bottom of it, she quickly removed my shirt. Her hands resumed exploring as I began to kiss her neck.

"I love you, Roza, my perfect angel."

Her little hands stopped at the waistband of my pants. She played teasingly with the button.

"Do it, baby," I whispered sexily in her ear, letting my Russian accent come through more heavily than usual.

She popped open the button and undid my zipper tantalizingly slow.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

My eyes flew open. It took a few seconds to realize that I was in my bed, alone in my room. I could usually control these things. I had never let a girl bewitch me body and soul as Roza did. If only I had had a few more minutes.

I sat there a few minutes, reveling in the moment, remembering and still feeling every touch as it had been real. My raging hard on brought me out of my reverie. I figured I should not waste any time, as I had an extra necessity to take care of in the shower this morning.

After I had showered and dressed, I checked my bags to make sure I had everything. Extra stakes, clothes, pictures that I would be giving to Mama. I glanced around my room one more time before I left. This was the place I was meant to be, but it would never replace home.

It was 8:45 by this point. I went to get the car that we would be taking to the airport. I brought it around toward the front gate. I loaded my stuff in the back, making sure to leave enough room for all Rose's stuff. I am not exaggerating when I say that Rose over-packs. That might actually be the understatement of the year.

I glanced at my watch 8:59. I leaned back against the car, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. I opened my eyes to find Rose coming around the corner. I do not know whether I was more shocked that she made it on time, or that she only had one bag. I guess the Spokane incident really had changed her. She seemed to be more of an adult now—no longer childish. I gave her a neutral smile as I loaded her bag in to the car. When I got into the car, her scent hit me like a wall of bricks. No wild smelling perfume, just her natural smell mixed with her shampoo and soap. It was heavenly.

"Dimitri, are you going to start the car or what?" she asked smirking a little.

I had not even noticed that I had been in a trance. Hell, this really was going to be bad.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay. I have been busy with college apps and projects for school. Thank you so much for all your reviews! They mean more than you know! I have been thinking that I will most likely write most of the chapters in Dimitri's POV. Some will still be from Rose's POV, but mostly DPOV. I hope everyone is okay with hearing from our sexy russian more often! Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy! -C**

**I am not Richelle Mead, just saying.**

DPOV

I immediately started the car and got us on our way to the airport. There was not much traffic on the road, so I let my mind wander a bit. I thought about the last time I was home. When I thought back on it, it really was a long time to be away. Each day was filled with so much to do, that I often found myself not thinking of home until I lay in bed at night. I was not overly affectionate, but when I was home, I always made sure to tell Mama good night. I had always found that very important. I couldn't do that anymore due to the time difference, but that didn't mean I think it to myself before I went to sleep each night.

"Dimitri?" I loved hearing her say my name.

"Yes, Rose."

"How long is the flight?" She looked kind of worried. Who would have thought that the great Rose Hathaway would be worried about flying? I made my voice sound as calming as I could.

"13 hours, nonstop." I drove with one hand as I placed my other hand on top of hers. Her breath caught. I knew she was feeling the same heat I was.

"Do not worry, Roza. Nothing will happen to you. I'll be right next to you the whole time." She gave me a weak smile and turned back to look out the window. I left my hand where it was for a few moments. I couldn't make myself move it just yet. I slowly lifted my hand and placed it back on the steering wheel. I saw Rose sight slightly. My heart broke for her. I couldn't give her what she wanted. I couldn't take what I wanted.

We rode in silence the rest of the way to the airport. The music on the radio was playing softly. I let her pick the station, hoping to calm her nerves. I parked the car in the long term parking. Rose got out of the car and looked up as an airplane passed by overhead. I took our bags out of the car. I put my hand on the small of her back, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Thanks, Dimitri."

I said nothing, but nudged her forward. I do not think she was prepared to see the number of vampires and dhampirs that we did.

"Everybody travels Rose," I said as we passed some of the Szelsky family. We scanned our passports and went through the first section of security. When we got to the metal detectors, Rose got a panicked look on her face.

"Roza, what's wrong?" I asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Dimitri, what about our stakes?" She whispered the last word after glancing around us.

"The magic protects them from being noticed by the detectors. We have to carry them to places with detection devices all the time. The magic allows us to do that."

"Oh, that makes sense." Rose proceeded to take off her shoes. I glanced down at her socked feet. Pink and blue striped toe socks? Totally, my Roza. I lightly chuckled out loud.

Rose followed my eyes down to her socks. "Not funny, Dimitri. My feel get cold."

"I am not laughing at them or you. Just the fact that are so…you."

"Well if they weren't, then I wouldn't be wearing them now would I?" Rose smirked at me as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. We passed through security without a problem. I couldn't help but sneak a small look at Rose's ass as she bent down to put her shoes back on. God, what I wouldn't give to—

"Dimitri! Are you listening? Are we at gate 18 or 19?"

"Sorry. We are at 19, which is," I scanned the direction board, "to the right."

When we got to the gate, we had half an hour before boarding. Rose just sat there, people watching I guess. I couldn't have people watched if I tried. My eyes were glued to the beautiful girl near me. I couldn't help but reminisce on our time together. From the first day I met her, I was intrigued. It was not until the night the lust charm was placed on us that I could admit to myself that I loved her. It was nice to be able to admit it, even if it was only to myself. It almost made it harder, though. I knew that I loved her, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I remembered that night I told Tasha that I could not be her guardian and the father of her children because of Roza. She had been disappointed, but she knew me the best, next to Rose. She knew that I would never be happy without her. I couldn't bare to see the look on Rose's face when I told her that Tasha had asked me to be her guardian again. As long as she didn't tell me to leave, I was going to stay.

"Dimitri, what is your family like?"

I looked Rose straight in the eyes. "Mama is the mother that every kid wants. She is understanding and loving. She always has something cooking. She gives great advice, but she will listen when you need—what's wrong Rose?" I stopped when I saw tears welling up in her eyes. I forgot the whole situation with her mother.

"It's nothing. I just wish I had a mother, instead of bad-ass guardian Janine Hathaway."

"Just because Janine doesn't do the same things that my mother does, doesn't mean she loved you any less. She shows her love by ridding us of strigoi. She put you in this school so that you would have a chance to be your own person, have the chance to grow up around people who love you, just as she does. Don't blame her for doing her job, Rose. Would you give up guarding Lissa?"

She thought for a minute. "No, I would always protect Lissa, but that doesn't mean I would abandon my child."

I pulled her into a side hug. These wounds were deeper than I knew. She seemed to relax into me. All too soon, she stood up.

"Umm, bathroom. I'll be right back." I knew she was trying to not let me see her cry. I let her go, knowing nothing I could say would make her feel better at this moment. It was better to just let her cry right now.

"I'll be right here." I gave her a reassuring smile as she turned to walk away.

She came back a few minutes later, her eyes a little red from her obvious crying. I made no comment, but rather concentrated on checking my watch.

"They should start boarding any minute now. Do you have everything?"

"Yes. I just wish we were there already."

True to my statement, they began boarding very soon. Rose and I would be flying coach, as the school was paying for this trip. I knew Rose would complain, but as long as I was on my home, I didn't care. We found our seats and settled in for the long journey to Baia. Rose watched some girly movie, while I caught up on my reading. She did eventually convince me to watch an episode of Jersey Shore with her. I do not know what I was watching, but I will never watch it again. Rose laughed in amusement at my being uncomfortable watching it. It was like watching porn.

Soon enough, Rose began to yawn. I was quite tired myself, as well.

"Rose, why don't you get some sleep? I'm sure my mother will have many things for us to do when we get there."

"Alright, just wake me up before we land. I want to be able to see around as we get lower." She lay her head back against the seat and succumbed to sleep.

"Goodnight, my Roza. Sleep well," I whispered as quietly as I could. She twitched a little in her sleep, as if she had heard me.

I tried to sleep as well, but I couldn't help thinking of the beauty asleep next to me. Her subconscious must have been aware of me, as she leaned her head on my shoulder and snuggled into me. I put my arm around her, allowing myself this small piece of satisfaction. I then succumbed to sleep as well.

All too soon, the flight attendant spoke over the speakers, telling us that we would be landing in five minutes. I shook Rose awake. Our eyes met, knowing that we had been snuggled together sleeping.

"I bet my hair is a mess," Rose said breaking the tension.

I couldn't resist touching that hair. "Nah, it's not bad." I turned back to gather my things. Rose did the same.

The landing, customs, and the drive to my house was all a blur. I was very excited to see my family again. As I had predicted, everyone was waiting outside for us.

Mama ran over to me before I had even gotten out of the car.

"Dimitri! My baby!" she said in Russian.

"I've missed you, Mama." It felt good to talk in Russian. I would have to teach Rose someday.

Greetings, introductions, and hugs were exchanged, and Mama ushered us inside.

"Why don't you go put your bags in your room? Dinner is almost ready." Like I said, Mama was always cooking something.

"Of course, Mama. Where is Rose to sleep?"

"Dimitri, I might be your mother, but I am under no rock. I know you two are sleeping together."

I nearly died in embarrassment. I couldn't even look at Rose. I knew she must be mortified as well.

"Mama! We are not sleeping together! We aren't even together. Rose is my student."

It was Mama's turn to look mortified now. "Oh my, when you said you were bringing…oh my…I am so sorry. Hold on we will work something out."

It was Yeva's turn to speak up. "Leave it. There is no other place."

I looked at Rose. Her face was expressionless.

Fuck! Yeah, that is what we were going to be doing if we were sleeping in the same bed for a month!

**Sooo, how was it? Review. Review. Review! Much love-C**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay in updating. I was busy with Senior pictures and soccer games and a bunch of other projects. On to the chapter...**

DPOV

Paul came running into the room at that exact moment.

"Uncle Dimitri!" he cried. He ran to me and threw his arms around my legs.

"Hey, there buddy! I missed you." He had been so little last time I saw him. I swung him up in my arms. "Paul, can you say hello to Rose?"

"Hello, Rose. You are very pretty."

Rose smiled. "Thank you, Paul. You are pretty handsome yourself."

Paul just giggled and jumped down from my arms. He went and stood right in front of Rose. "Mommy said that you have molnija marks. May I see them?"

"Of course." Rose turned around and bent down. When she moved her hair from her neck, Paul gasped.

"That is so cool."

A brief moment of sadness crossed Rose's face. Only I would have noticed it. Rose did not take getting molnijas lightly. She still remembered Mason. Her heart still broke for Mason. He would be that one person that she would always associate with the marks.

"Hey Rosie. Is it okay if I call you Rosie?"

Rose just laughed. "Sure, Paul."

"Do you want to come play with my toys with me?" Paul asked shyly.

"Lead the way." She flashed a quick smile at everyone before following Paul's lead. I briefly thought about how great of a mother she would be. I smiled after her.

Yeva cleared her throat and gave me a pointed look. Damn it. That woman knew everything.

Finally my mother spoke. "Dimitri, why don't you take the bags upstairs and get washed up for dinner."

I may be 24 years old, but when Mama told me to do something, I did it. I gave her a quick peck on her cheek before ascending the stairs, bags in hand. I entered my bedroom. Unfortunately my bed was the first thing I saw. The image of Rose sleeping, naked, wrapped in the tangled sheets. I immediately began to have other thoughts—Rose moaning my name, running my hands through her beautiful hair, pinching her perfect ass, fingering her... It was only after my bulge begged for release from my pants, did I realize that was probably a bad idea.

I tried to think of anything and everything to get rid of my problem. That was a problem in itself because everything I thought of led me back to my beautiful Roza.

A knock sounded at the door. Victoria popped her head in. She had grown so much from the little innocent girl who loved her big brother more than anything in the world.

She gave me a once over and chuckled. "You've got it bad, don't you?" Yes, definitely not the little innocent girl I left.

I shot her a look brushed passed her through the doorway. As soon as I hit the top of the stairs, the delicious aroma of Mama's cooking consumed me.

"She cooked all your favorites," Victoria said from behind me.

I had not realized how much I missed home until I got here. The academy was great. I loved being part of the education of future guardians, and Roza, my Roza, but home is always a special place.

"Don't get all sappy on my now, big brother. I'm hungry." She moved past me on the stairs. I took a moment to collect my thoughts before descending into the dining room. Mama had outdone herself tonight. As Victoria had said, she had cooked all my favorites. Rose entered the dining room at that moment, well more like dragged in my Paul. My eyes locked with hers. I saw a slight blush creep into her cheeks. Paul looked back and forth between me and Rose. I really hoped that he wasn't as observant as Karolina's letters said he was.

Dinner was beyond wonderful, as I told Mama multiple times throughout the meal. Rose was told stories of our family. I didn't participate much. I just sat back and watched. Roza fit in so well with my family, it seemed like she had been around for years. I could tell Rose knew I was watching her from her movements.

Suddenly, Karolina spoke up. "So, I want to know the deal with you two," she said gesturing to Rose and me. Oh, shit.

Thankfully Rose spoke up first. "He is my mentor. Long story short, I ran away from the academy and got behind on my training. When they found us and brought us back to the academy, he had to give me private lessons to catch me back up."

It was so much more than that—not they my family needed to know any of that.

"When you say us, who is that?" Mama asked.

"My best friend Vasilissa Dragomir."

"The princess? Cool." Victoria seemed to be impressed.

"Are you going to kiss Rosie when you go to bed tonight, Uncle Dimitri?" Paul's face looked so innocent. In fact, it was. He looked extremely worried. I tried to hide the mortification from my face. I glanced quickly to see Rose the same way.

I took a deep breath. I wanted to say yes so badly. Just to kiss her and hold her in my arms until she fell asleep. Okay, so of course I wanted more. I wanted her and her body so desperately. She had this hold over me. I was still content to just hold her hand, kiss her cheek; to do whatever that would bring me closer to her.

"No, buddy, I am not going to kiss Rose."

A look of relief flooded his face. "Good. I like Rosie." Uh oh. Looks like somebody has it as bad as I do. I chuckled inwardly.

Conversation flowed easily after that. I caught Rose looking at me a few times. I couldn't help but feel good inside when I caught her.

When dinner was over, Mama sent Rose upstairs to go to sleep, saying that she looked exhausted. She did look exhausted. Our days were messed up with the time difference. The phone rang for Victoria. She disappeared into her room chatting quickly and excitedly in Russian. Karolina took Paul to bed. Yeva went to sit on the front porch and do her knitting. This left just me and Mama to do the dishes.

Mama was eerily quiet. I think she was embarrassed about the sleeping arrangements. I knew she was dying to say something to me.

"Mama, whatever you want to say, please just say it." We had always been so honest with each other.

She looked at me for a few moments and finally said, "Dimitri, I am so sorry. I know I embarrassed you and Rose and myself. I just thought when you said you were bringing Rose, I jumped to conclusions."

I moved across the kitchen to hug Mama. I knew she meant well. I really did. I hated seeing her beat herself up over this.

"I'm sorry, Mama. I should have been clearer as to who Rose was. However, I do think this will be good for us. We will both be guarding the princess after she and Rose graduate. This trip is supposed to be a training trip for her, as well. Just think of it as extra practice for our future. You never know what sort of stuff we will get into with the princess."

Mama smiled. I had hopefully eased her mind a little bit. She began to turn back to the dishes, but stopped short.

"You've really got it bad for her, don't you Dimitri?"

I couldn't lie to my mama. "More than you know."

Being the great mother that she was, she didn't push the issue. We finished the dishes in comfortable silence. When I could no longer hide my exhaustion, I bid my mother goodnight and went up the stairs. I walked into my room completely forgetting that Rose was in there too. She was just coming out of my en suite bathroom. Her hair was up in a towel, another one wrapped around her body. She had a toothbrush in her mouth. I froze for a second. All that was between me and her naked body was a few feet and a towel. I groaned inwardly at the thought. She seemed frozen to the spot, but soon regained her senses and ran back into the bathroom. I just sat on the bed. I didn't want to be changing and her come out and see me. This didn't need to be anymore awkward that it already was.

She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. Her wet hair was brushed out, and she had changed into a pair of plaid pajama pants and a small cotton tank top. The top of her breasts showed just above the top of her shirt.

I took a moment to drink in her appearance. She was beautiful all the time, but now, especially, she was gorgeous.

"Umm, so," Rose said, not sure of what to say.

I kicked all thoughts from my head as I replied, "Look, Rose. I'm sorry I walked in like that. I forgot about our sleeping arrangements."

"It's okay. I should have stayed in the bathroom."

"I'll just remember to knock from now on."

"Same here." Rose crawled into bed, looking ready to fall asleep standing up. I quickly went into the bathroom to change and ready myself for bed…and for sleeping in the same bed with the woman of my dreams…literally.

I turned the light off as I got into bed. I heard Rose's breath hitch as she felt me enter the bed. I knew she was thinking about the last time we were in a bed together—the night of the lust charm. So was I. I concentrated on making my breathing deep and constant. Hopefully she would think I was asleep and would relax enough to fall asleep herself. I must have been convincing because just before I actually fell asleep, I felt her slide her perfect little hand into mine.

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	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back again! I hope you all are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it! If there is anything yall would like to see happen, let me know and I will see if I can fit it in the story. No promises though. Now onto the story...**

**I am not Richelle Mead. Obviously.**

DPOV

The morning light was just starting to sneak in through the windows of my small second story bedroom. I sighed as I snuggled closer to Rose—holy shit! Rose. I had forgotten for a moment that Rose and I were sleeping in the same bed. I then became aware of how tangled our bodies had become together. It was like we were clinging to each other for dear life. I took a second to get my bearings. I was in bed with my Roza. I loved waking up to her. I wished I could wake up next to her every morning for the rest of my life. Seeing her peaceful face, with her hair sprawled all over the pillow was a sight to behold. My heart swelled with love. She moved slightly in her sleep bringing me back to reality. This would be extremely awkward for her if she were to wake up like this. I slowly tried to extricate myself from her without waking her. I guess her subconscious noticed me trying to move, as she kept moving to my touch.

I finally succeeded in removing myself from the bed without waking her. I grabbed my clothes and headed to the bathroom. I splashed cool water onto my face trying to clear my head. I didn't know how I was going to make it through this month with her.

I could hear Mama moving around in the kitchen, so I hurried into the shower. After last night's meal, I couldn't wait to see what was for breakfast.

I gave my sleeping princess one last look before retreating down to the kitchen. Mama was already hard at work cooking enough food for an army. Rose would be pleased at not having to worry about eating too much that others went hungry. That girl had an appetite that rivaled my 24 year old, 6 foot 7 self.

Mama greeted me with a hug and poured a mug of coffee as I settled at the table to watch her work her magic.

"How did you sleep?" Mama asked me nonchalantly. Let's see. How should I answer this? Great, Mama. I woke up intertwined and touching everywhere possible with a 17 year old girl who I happen to be in love with. Or Great Mama. I woke up with extreme morning wood that just got worse when I realized who I was in bed with.

"Fine. Rose sleeps like the dead anyway."

"And you know this because?" I loved my Mama, but she always had to know everything about everything.

"Because she has fallen asleep on my shoulder before." I remembered that shopping trip to Missoula when Rose had first seen that fateful necklace.

"Dimitri, I think we need to talk about this. Does she know that you are in love with her?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Does she love you?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Then do something about it, Dimitri!"

"Mama, I cannot do that. I tried not to love her. I couldn't do it. God, I tried. You have to believe me. We will both be guarding the princess after they graduate. I have to protect Lissa with everything that I have. The only reason that I can even bare to throw myself in front of her now is that I cannot bare to see Rose if anything ever happened to her best friend, her bond mate. I know Rose can protect herself. I've taught her myself. That still doesn't change the fact that guardians don't fall in love and marry each other. I cannot give her children. I can't take that opportunity away from her. On top of all that, she is seventeen. How do you think it feels to have the person that gets you the most, the person that is your other half, the person that makes everything make sense and nothing make sense at the same time be seventeen? She is my student. I am her mentor. She is out of bounds, and I cannot be that guy."

I put my head in my hands, ashamed that I had raised my voice at my mother, and exhausted at bearing my innermost feelings. I was a guardian with a stone cold exterior. This never happens with me.

I felt my mother put her arms around me. Neither of us said anything. I didn't want to cry. I was a man, damn it. But I let one small tear fall down my face. In that moment, I felt five years old again—needing the comfort of my mother. How had I let my heart become so vunerable? I knew why. Rose. Her sarcastic comments that I acted like annoyed me, but in reality I laughed inside. Her ability to love deeply to a fault. Her amazing ass. The way she knotted her fingers in my hair when she kissed me. The way she looked at me. Everything about her. Rose.

The timer went off for the oven. Mama patted my back and went back to her breakfast task. I sighed deeply and got up to poor myself another cup of coffee. Just as I sat back down, Rose entered the kitchen. She gave no inclination that she had heard anything I had told Mama. I was glad of that.

"Good morning," I said with a slight smile.

"Hey." Always so eloquent, I thought to myself.

"Good morning, Rose," my mother said, "How did you sleep?"

"Good, thanks. I sleep like the dead."

I small chuckle escaped my lips when my mother gave me a knowing look.

"What?" Rose looked at me with an eyebrow raised. How did she learn to do that?

"Nothing." I replied probably a little too quickly.

Mama sat steaming hot plates of breakfast down in front of each of us. There was no conversation, as neither of us could stop from stuffing our faces with this heavenly food. God, I love Mama. Mama just looked at us in amusement.

We were just finishing, when Paul and Karolina came into the room. Karolina bid us good morning, while Paul ran straight to Rose. He threw his arms around her and hugged her as tightly as he could.

"Woah, hey, Paul." Rosa said, barely able to breathe.

"Hey, Uncle Dimitri," Paul said over Rose's shoulder.

"Good morning, buddy."

Paul let go of Rose and took his place at the table. Paul immediately began to eat when Mama placed his food in front of him.

"Paul, what do you tell Nana?" Karolina prompted.

"Thank you, Nana," Paul said with his mouth full.

Rose and I laughed. I could see Rose doing that exact same thing.

"Karolina, what did you have planned today?" Mama asked as she sat down to eat as well.

"Paul has a play date with Alexander today. I was thinking of going to the flea market for a while after, before I go to Stefan's."

Stephan was Paul's father—not that Paul knew that though. When Karolina said "go to Stefan's" I took that as meaning "I am going to go have sex with Stefan." I didn't make it known that I had put that together.

"Do you mind if I come with you to the market? Annika is selling some of her stuff there today. I told her I would have a look at it."

"Sure, Mama. That is fine. Do you think that you could pick Paul up on the way back to the house? I wouldn't want to burden Alexander's family with keeping him too long."

"That sounds fine, Karolina."

"Good morning, all!" Victoria said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen.

A round of good mornings were sent back at her.

Mama spoke first. "Victoria, Karolina and I are going to the flea market. Would you like to join us? Rose you are welcome, as well."

"Sure, I'll go. I think Ana and Elijah are going to be there as well. I can meet up with them."

"Great, how about you Rose?"

Rose looked at me. When I had first met her, she would have given up anything for shopping of any kind. The look in her eyes told me otherwise. She was begging me to not let her go. Something really changed her in Spokane. She really had grown up. I knew she wanted me to say that she couldn't go so that she didn't have to be rude. Her eyes were pleading with me so hard.

"She has to train, Mama. Maybe next time she can join you."

"Oh, Dimitri. Don't be so hard. Let her enjoy Baia at least one day," Karolina said, looking at me disapprovingly.

"She can enjoy it another day. We did not get to train yesterday due to our traveling." I put my guardian mask in place, causing everybody to drop the subject. Thankfully, Paul took that moment to tell Rose all about his friend Alexander. She was listening intently to Paul, but she rested her hand on my leg, just briefly as a thank you.

Everyone helped clear the table and do the dishes, except for Rose to whom Paul was still talking adamantly. Goodbyes were said as everybody left. Rose and I sat at the kitchen table in silence for a few minutes.

"So are we going to train or what?" Rose asked expectantly.

"Sure, let's go change."

I followed her up the stairs. That was not a good idea. Her ass was in a perfect position for me to stare.

Rose changed in the bathroom, while I changed in the bedroom. She made sure I was dressed before coming out. She looked adorable in her loose sweats and tank top.

"Let's go," I said. I led her outside. Our training was just like what we did back at the academy. I decided to run with her around the neighborhood. She was slower than normal today since she was looking at all the houses we passed. I let it slide today. I wanted her to be able to see where I grew up. When we got done running, we sparred. Rose was getting closer and closer to beating me every day. This was good. It meant I was doing something right.

I didn't want to work her too hard. The time change was still affecting her. We left it at just running and sparring.

We were both sweating bullets when we finished.

"I need a shower before your family comes home."

"So do I. You can go first, if you like."

We headed upstairs to my room.

"Do you mind if I stay in here and read while you shower?"

"No that's fine." I could tell her mind was elsewhere. It had been since the flea market was mentioned. She obviously saw the change in my face. She knew a talk or a lecture was coming, and she knew exactly what it was about.

"Rose, we need to talk about this."

"What is there to talk about? I thought you would be happy that I didn't want to go so we could train."

"This is not about that. We could have trained later today. I just don't want you to give up on all the fun things in your life. I know you still feel responsible for Mason and what happened in Spokane."

A small tear escaped. I brushed my finger across her cheek to wipe in away as I said, "Roza," I used my more affectionate name for her, "I was in your position once. You have to believe that you did everything you could. It was not your fault."

"That is not the point, Dimitri. I have accepted the fact that I did everything that I could. I have played that day over and over again, every single damn day, Dimitri. You don't get it, do you? If Mason was still here, I could be with somebody that actually wanted to be with me! Well, guess what. He isn't here. I look at everybody else and see that they all have somebody that loves them and wants to be with them. So tell me, Dimitri. What do I do wrong? Why am I always the one alone?"

The pain flooded her face. She felt alone. Passion flared up in me. "You are asking the wrong guy." I crashed my lips to hers. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed her like I needed air. I moved her against the wall. I ran my hands all over her body. The need I felt for her was like no other. I kissed her with everything I had. She wove her hands through my hair.

The front door slammed. I broke away from her. "I cannot do this, Roza. I'm sorry."

Before I shut the door behind me, I saw her sink to the ground in tears.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Wow! Two updates in one day. I must really love you guys! **

**Not Richelle Mead**

DPOV

I walked downstairs nonchalantly. I did everything in my power to make it seem like I had not just been upstairs making out with Rose. I heard the shower start running. At least she didn't sit on the floor crying too long. As soon as I thought about it, my heart broke again. I hated seeing her cry, but I hated it more knowing that I was the reason this time.

I tried to be interested in the things that Victoria and Mama bought at the market. I tried listening to Paul tell me about his day at Alexander's house. Thankfully, I was good at putting on a good front. I think Mama was a little suspicious, but she kept her comments to herself.

Finally, Rose came downstairs. I saw that her eyes were still red from crying. She looked at me once, but only for a split second.

"Hey, Rose. I'm glad Dimka didn't kill you today," Victoria said playfully.

Rose forced out a laugh. "I'm used to it," she assured Victoria.

"Rose, what happened to your eyes?" Mama, the ever concerned mother, asked.

Panic flashed onto her face just long enough for me to catch it but no one else. "I, uh, umm, got shampoo in my eyes in the shower."

Mama gave her a sympathetic smile. If she didn't buy her excuse, she didn't say anything. Victoria on the other hand was too consumed with the stuff she bought.

The phone rang. Mama immediately made a move to answer but thought better of it. "Victoria, it is normally for you. Why don't you answer it?"

Victoria answered the phone in the other room. I could hear her chatting rapidly in Russian but couldn't make out what she was saying. I heard her say Rose's name, but that was it.

Mama had gone to put Paul down for a nap, leaving me and Rose sitting uncomfortably on the couch.

"Roza—"

"Dimitri, just don't say anything," she pleaded. "Please, just don't say anything."

Mama came back into the room. "So, Rose. Tell me about your friends back home."

Hopefully, this would get her mind off me. She loved her friends so much.

"Well, my best friend is Lissa Dragomir. We have been friends since we were little. I'm kind of bonded to her…"

Rose continued telling Mama about her friends. I sat there, consumed by my own thoughts. I didn't know what I could say to make this situation with Rose better. She was so tough on the exterior that I had not even thought about how vulnerable she was on the inside.

"…and I guess you could say that I am friends with Adrian Ivaskov—when he isn't drunk that is." Rose laughed at the thought.

"Well, Rose. You seem to have good friends back home."

"I do." Rose smiled, thoughtfully. I would have to let her use my phone later to call Lissa.

"What about you, Dimitri?"

"I saw Tasha not too long ago." I saw Rose's face turn into a scowl her mention.

"Oh, it has been a while since I have spoken to Tasha. Where did you see her?"

"She came to visit Christian at the academy. She also went on the ski trip with us."

"Well, I bet it was nice to catch up with her." I guess Mama could see that I didn't want to talk about Tasha anymore, so she dropped the subject.

Victoria came back into the room at that moment. "Mama, Ana is having some people over tonight at her house. Can I go? She said that I could bring Rose."

"That is fine, if Rose wants to go."

"Rose?" Victoria asked pleadingly.

"Sure, why not?" Rose looked at me. I knew she was thinking about our talk earlier. She knew that I was right, that she should enjoy her life.

Rose and Victoria went upstairs to get ready to leave. Mama went to make dinner. I stayed on the couch flipping through an old western book that I had brought downstairs earlier.

I had lost track of time while I was reading. The girls came downstairs, giggling. I was glad to see Rose getting along with my sister.

I couldn't take me eyes off of Rose. Her hair had a slight curl to it. She had put on a little more makeup than usual. Her beautiful body was accented by dark blue jeans that were tucked into books and an emerald green sweater. She looked absolutely breathtaking, not that I ever thought that she didn't.

"Mama! We are leaving," Victoria yelled.

"Rose, can I talk to you for a moment." She gave Victoria a look before following me into the next room.

"Dimitri, please don't ruin this."

"I'm not Rose. I just wanted you to take this with you." I handed her one of my stakes.

She stuck it in her boot. "Thank you, Dimitri." She said quietly. She didn't want to look me in the eye.

I took my finger and moved her chin up so she was looking at me. "Have fun, Roza." I did the unthinkable and pulled her into a hug.

"I will." She said into my chest. She pulled back, wiping a tear from her eye.

She turned and left without another word.

Dinner was not as extravagant as last night. Paul talked to Nana most of the time. Yeva sat there and watched me. I let my thoughts wander. I knew Mama would want to talk to me after dinner. I tried to prepare myself for that. I didn't want another episode of what happened at breakfast.

Paul and Yeva went to their rooms, leaving Mama and I alone in the kitchen. I volunteered to do the dishes. Mama sat at the table with a cup of tea.

"I know you want to say something, Mama, so just say it please."

"You kissed her when we went to the flea market." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"Yes, Mama."

"Is that why she was crying when we got home?"

"What?"

"Oh come on, Dimitri. I know when a teenage girl has been crying. The shampoo wouldn't make her eyes look like that."

I didn't know what to say.

"What happened, Dimitri?"

"She was talking about how she felt alone, how the one person that wanted her died. She asked me why nobody wanted her. I told her that she was asking the wrong person, and I just started kissing her."

"What is this thing with Tasha and Rose. She didn't look happy when I brought it up."

"Tasha asked me to be her guardian and brought up the option of having kids together."

"Obviously, you didn't take the offer."

"I told Tasha that I couldn't because of Rose. She wasn't happy, but she understood. She knows me well enough to know how much I love Rose."

"Does Rose know all this?"

"I told her, but I guess she still gets jealous."

"Give her time, Dimitri. Tasha has the one thing she wants."

"What is that?"

"Freedom—freedom to love who she wants."

I sighed. I didn't have anything to say, because that is exactly the same thing I wanted.

I went upstairs and took a shower. I wanted to wait for Rose to get home, so I lay on the bed and tried to read my book. It had been such a roller coaster day that I fell asleep. I vaguely remembered Rose coming in and getting ready for bed. I felt her move the book off my lap and pull the covers around me. I shifted so that I was facing the middle of the bed. I felt Rose get in on the other side.

"Dimitri?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry about today."

"It's ok."

Rose snuggled back into me. I remembered that she had told me before that she had been having trouble sleeping since Mason's death. She said she kept having nightmares about the strigoi coming after her since she got away. I guess having me nearby comforted her. I wanted to all that I could to help her not feel alone and vulnerable. I put my arm around her and threaded my fingers through hers. She sighed and succumbed to sleep.

"Goodnight, my Roza. I love you," I said to my sleeping beauty.

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	8. Chapter 8

**So so so sorry for the delay in updating. I had a wedding to attend and then I went to the Falcons/Packers game Sunday night. I took some time to recover yesterday, and now here we are! I would also like to apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I wanted to get something out to you guys before some BIG things start happening. Thanks for all the reviews!**

DPOV

I just wanted everything to go back to normal with Rose—well as normal as things ever were for us. After the whole kiss thing two weeks ago, we had become overly polite to each other. No more of Rose's sarcastic comments, no more complaining about training. It just wasn't my Roza. No mention was ever made of what had happened between us. I didn't want to bring it up because it hurt me as bad as it did her.

I looked up from where I was peeling potatoes at the kitchen sink through the window at Paul and Rose playing. She had spent most of her free time with him. I think that she was living vicariously through him. He got the childhood surrounded with family that she never got.

A smile crossed my face. It was almost as if in these innocent moments with Paul that she looked like she forgot all the bad that has happened to her. She forgot Mason, her problems with Lissa, and even me.

Silently thanking Paul, I went back to peeling for Mama. I heard the kitchen door open. It was Mama.

"Dimitri, what are you doing?"

I didn't mean to be rude, but wasn't it obvious?

"Peeling potatoes."

"No, Dimitri. I mean what are you doing with Rose? Things are not the same anymore. I just do not want you to throw away a good friendship and partnership."

"I'm not throwing away anything, Mama. I just want her to be happy."

"And you think she is happier without you?"

I couldn't reply. I knew the answer was the same as mine. We were two halves of a whole. We got each other better than ever ourselves sometimes.

"Just think about it, Dimitri. Your charge is not the only thing worth fighting for."

I heard the kitchen door close behind me. I stopped peeling the potatoes and willed the tears not to fall. The only two women that could make a grown man cry—his mother and the love of his life! Damn it!

I took a deep breath and went to the back door.

"Rose, can you come in here a minute?"

Rose said something too low for me to hear to Paul and started toward me.

"What's up?"

I pulled out a chair at the table and motioned for her to sit.

"We have to talk about what happened," I said slowly. As soon as the words left me mouth, though, I could see her walls come up.

"Dimitri, no—"

"Roza, yes. We must talk about it."

She looked me in the eye and then looked down.

"Roza, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to ease your—"

"Oh, so you just wanted to ease my pain? Is that what it is? You just wanted me to stop crying and yelling. So that's how you stop it? By kissing me? Well, you just made it worse, Dimitri."

My heart broke into a thousand pieces. "Rose, listen to me. I kissed you, yes because I wanted to ease your pain, but I kissed you because I wanted to."

"Well, sucks for you, because this time, it is me saying no. You cannot just kiss me and then 15 seconds later tell me that we can't. I've heard your excuse so many times before that even I am starting to believe it. _They come first_, right Dimitri? It's always Lissa. That is how it has to be. Now excuse me, Paul is waiting for me."

She got up from her chair and pushed passed me. I watched her leave. When I pushed, she pulled. When she pushed, I pulled. What the hell are we doing?

I had to do something. I couldn't stay in this house any longer. I went upstairs to change into running clothes. I could do my usual 10 miles, but it just didn't seem long enough. Hell, I would even do a fucking marathon to get out of this house.

I stuck my head out the back door.

"Rose, I'm going running. Yeva is upstairs, and Mama, Karolina, and Victoria should be home soon. I'll have my phone."

Not expecting a reply, I turned back inside.

"Uncle Dimitri!" I heard Paul calling, so I turned back, still standing in the doorway.

"What buddy?" I asked when he got to me.

"Uncle Dimitri, why did you make Rosie cry?"

Oh shit. I crouched down so that I was a close to his height as possible. "I didn't meant to make Rose cry, buddy. It is something that you will understand when you are older."

Paul studied my face for a minute.

"Is this because Rosie is in love with you?"

Of fuck.

"Paul, how did you know that?"

"She said it one time when she thought I wasn't listening," he said simply, thinking nothing of it.

"Umm, yeah I guess buddy."

"Oh ok. What about you, Uncle Dimitri? Do you love Rosie?"

I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Yes, buddy. More than anything in this world."

Paul hugged me and ran back out to play with Rose.

I felt as if the world was closing in around me. I had to get out of the house.

I ran for what seemed like forever. I seemed like I couldn't run far enough. I couldn't tell you how long I ran or how far. I wasn't running to anything particular, just running away from everything.

**Hope yall enjoyed it! Reviews are always welcome :) xoxo-C**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hola! Sorry for the delay in updating. School and life are kicking my butt! Anyway, I told you big things would be happening! On to the story!**

RPOV

I didn't know what to do about Dimitri. When I pushed, he pulled; when I pulled, he pushed. It was all so—

"Ahhh…" The ball Paul and I were playing just hit my head.

"Rosie, you are supposed to catch it!" Paul said between laughs.

I probably should have been annoyed that a ball had just collided with my face, but Paul was too cute.

"Why thank you for informing me of that Paul. I would have never guessed," I was glad Paul was a smart kid. He understood my sarcasm that I could never seem to turn off.

Paul continued laughing. It was nice to spend time with someone so innocent. His biggest problem was what he was going to eat for his snack.

"ROSE! ROSE! ROSE!" I whipped my head around to see Victoria running toward me.

"VICTORIA! VICTORIA! VICTORIA!" I jokingly mocked her.

"Funny," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"So what is so important?" she had made me curious.

"Okay, so there is this huge party tonight at Dominic's house. It's like the last big party before everybody goes back to school. Mama said that I could go if you wanted to go. So do you want to go? Because I really want to go!" Victoria said in what seemed like one breath.

I chuckled, "Sure. I'll go. It sounds like fun." I was being sincere. I needed some time to let loose and have fun.

"GREAT! Okay, we have to find you something hot to wear. I'll go plan our outfits right now. Come upstairs when you get done with Paul."

Victoria, way too excited to be healthy, ran back inside the house. Paul and I played with the ball until he got hungry. I took him inside to get his snack. I really liked helping around the house even though Olena had told me repeatedly that I didn't have to.

Once he was settled with his juice box and crackers, I went upstairs to find Victoria.

I stopped in shock as I walked into her room. What was usually an organized mess was now just a mess. Dresses, pants, tops, shoes, handbags, everything was strewn all over the room. And the worst part? Victoria was still going through her closet.

"Hehmmm," I cleared my throat trying to get her attention.

She turned around, noticed her room, and replied sheepishly, "Sorry, I get carried away sometimes. Just push some clothes off the bed and sit down."

I did as I was told and got comfortable on the bed. This girl was like a madwoman. She kind of reminded me of myself before I ran away with Lissa. Clothes, parties, boys—it was all I cared about. I wasn't saying that it was a bad thing, it just made me become sentimental for a moment.

"YES!" I heard Victoria say from the closet.

She emerged with a one shouldered, sequined black dress. I must say—it was extremely hot.

"This, my darling, is for you," she said with a smirk.

I just sat there and stared at it. It was perfect. Sexy, but not trashy. It kind of reminded me of the dress that I wore the night of the lust charm. Shit, I can't think about that right now. I quickly hid any signs of sadness from my face.

"Vic! It's perfect!"

"I thought you would think so. Now go shower and condition your hair. I am about to make you look fierce!"

I ran back to Dimitri's room to shower. I almost collided with him as I was going in and he was going out.

"Woah, sorry," I said, not meeting his eye.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I'm going to a party with Victoria and I have to get ready. Is that a problem?" I couldn't help but be snarky with him today.

"Whose house?" Damn it, protective Dimitri is back. Not that he every left.

"Some guy named Dominic. Anyway, Olena said we could go."

Dimitri said no more but continued past me. Shit. Why did he have to be so hot?

Suddenly, I remembered what Lissa always did when she was getting ready to go somewhere special. She always wore a button up shirt, so as to not mess up her hair and makeup. I thought through the clothes that I brought. Damn, no button up shirt. I saw one of Dimitri's sitting on a chair where Olena had placed his recently washed laundry. I grabbed it, a pair of sweats, a strapless black bra and a matching black thong and headed into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, I arrived back in Victoria's room, which now had all the clothes in a pile in the corner except for what she had picked out for us to wear. She had makeup and every hair product known to man across her vanity table.

"Let's get started," she said. Oh fuck. She was like Lissa on steroids.

She did a blow out on my hair and proceeded to curl it to perfection. She used this cream to give it an extra shine. I would have to ask her what it was later. I wonder if you could get it back in the States?

As she was doing my makeup, she looked at my shirt. "So what's up with you and Dimitri?"

"It's complicated." I really didn't want to explain that one.

"Okay, so you love him, he loves you, he says you can't be together, blah blah blah. Right?" Damn, she was good.

"Something like that." I said amused.

When Victoria finished my makeup, I went to sit on the bed while she got ready herself. I just watched her, letting my mind wander.

She brought me out of my reverie by waving AMAZING red shoes in my face. I giggled like a little girl. Fuck.

We got dressed and proceeded downstairs.

Dimitri's mouth dropped open as he took in my appearance. I knew I looked hot, and his expression seemed to agree with me.

"Dimka, if you don't want a fly to get into your mouth, I would suggest you shut it," Victoria said with a little chuckle. He scowled and went back to reading his book. How he could read those westerns was beyond me.

Olena, being the mother that she was, had to come out and take pictures of us. She even made me take one with Dimitri. To my surprise, he put his hand of the small of my back. My breath hitched at his touch. Thankfully, as soon as the picture was snapped, Victoria began to literally drag me out the door. There must be some guy there that she wanted to see.

Dominic's house wasn't too far so we walked. Victoria filled me in on who all would be there on the way over. I tried to remember everyone, but there were too many people and too many Russian names.

I followed Victoria as she made her rounds through the people. We finally made it to the alcohol! I needed some distraction. Some guy came up to Victoria while we were at the table. They were talking quickly in Russian, so I had no idea what they were talking about.

Victoria turned to me and said, "I'm going to go with Alec for a little while. Is that okay?"

I could tell that she really wanted to so I told her it was fine. I was going to go outside and people watch.

I filled my cup and went out the double doors to the deck where music was pumping and people were dancing. I guess teenagers were the same everywhere—underage drinking, grinding on the dance corner, people making out in the corner.

I found myself a spot just off the dance floor. Mostly the people present were dhampirs. A few moroi were present, but it was predominantly dhampirs.

"So, you must be Rose. Victoria told me you were coming," a voice with a thick Russian accent said behind me.

I turned around to face him. "Dominic, I presume?" I said sexily, sticking my chest out. It must be that Russian vodka—strong stuff.

"You presumed correctly. So what are you doing in Baia? I thought St. Vlads was still in session."

"How do you know about St. Vlads?" I asked curiously.

"My cousin attends. I just talked to him the other day. Now if you would answer my question. Why are you in Baia?"

"I came with my mentor who is Victoria's older brother?"

"Dimitri? Hmm, he never liked girls his own age. First there was Tasha and now you. That lucky bastard."

I should have been angry, but I didn't care.

"Lucky huh?, I asked as seductive as I could.

"Hell yeah. Want to dance?" Dominic was cocky, but he was hot. I was here to let loose and have fun.

I said nothing, but took his hand and led him to the dance floor. He had his arm around my waste. We were grinding our hips against each other to the beat of the music. I caught sight of Victoria and she smiled at me. I winked back.

Dominic placed his hands on my ass as we continued to dance. Before I knew it, we were kissing.

"Why don't we continue this party upstairs?" he asked with a cocky smile on his face.

Dimitri briefly crossed my mind.

"Hell yeah," I said. He grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd and up the stairs. Once the door was shut behind us, his lips were immediately on mine. Our tongues fought for dominance. His hands roamed my body. It felt good to be touched again. It was nothing like Dimitri's touch, but it would do for one night.

He started to move his hand up under my dress. I immediately slammed on breaks. While he was still kissing my neck, I grabbed his hand to make sure it didn't go up my dress.

"No, not tonight."

He groaned but moved his lips back to mine. It wasn't long before his hand started to move that way again.

"Dominic, stop it!" I said breaking the kiss.

"Leave." That was all he said. He went to the door and opened it for me, motioning me through it.

"Gladly," I said with a smirk on my face.

I found Victoria on the dance floor. I told her I was going to walk home but for her to stay as long as she wanted.

When I was finally away from the party, tears started to well up in my eyes. Why couldn't I have just let Dominic do it? He was pretty talented and it wouldn't have meant anything. I knew the answer. Dimitri. I wanted him to be the first one that touched me like that. I wanted to give everything to him. I made my mind up then and there that when I got back to the house that I would bring down my walls and give myself to him. Just hopefully he still wanted it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I began to feel nauseous. Not the kind of nauseous like when I drank too much, the nauseous I get when strigoi are around. Suddenly my mind was clear and alert, ready for whatever came at me.

The first strigoi came at me. I could see that she used to be moroi. This was good news for me. As a moroi, she wouldn't have had the fighting experience. She would have to rely on brute force that she got from being strigoi. Thankfully, I had tucked the stake Dimitri had given me earlier into hidden pocket in my dress. Thank God Victoria was a dhampir!

I punched and I kicked. By no means was killing a strigoi easy, but I figured that this might be the easiest one I ever get. Just as I was finishing this one off, another one came at me.

This guy was good. Previously a dhampir, he had good fighting skills. He was trained as well as I was. I got a good blow in to his ribs, but I staggered back from the force. He kicked at my leg. Damn. That wasn't going to feel good in the morning. Adrenaline kept me going though. At one point, he almost had me. He had me pinned from behind, but I managed to throw my head back enough to get a good hit on his throat causing him to loosen his grip.

In his disorientation, I was able to turn around enough to stake him. I thought he was the last one. I pulled out Olena's cell phone she had let me take to the party to call Dimitri. Before I could dial the number, I felt another wave of nausea.

This guy was the biggest and strongest strigoi I had ever come across. His pure brute force had me staggering every which way. It seemed that no blow I ever got on him did any damage. I started to really get scared. Dimitri's face flashed into my mind. I wished he was here right now. I would never admit this any other time, but I needed help. The strigoi felt me hesitate and slammed me to the ground. My head hit with a hard thump.

Just as he was about to put his fangs to my throat, my Dimitri came running toward me. All I could do was lay on the ground. Dimitri and the strigoi were a dancing blur. I knew Dimitri could move fast but not enough to make his blur. Maybe that was just the pain from my head hitting the ground so hard. I tried to move my body. My leg was definitely broken. A couple of ribs maybe? My shoulder was definitely screwed up from the fall, not to mention my head which was profusely bleeding.

Finally I saw Dimitri drive the stake into the strigoi's heart. I had never been so happy and relieved. Dimitri bent down to pick me up. I winced as he moved me.

"Oh, Roza. I'm sorry, but I have to get you home."

"It's okay, Comrade. I trust you." I tried not to cry, but I just couldn't help it. I grabbed onto him for dear life while the tears flowed.

"Shhh, Roza. It's okay. I'm here. I won't ever let anything happen to you."

"Comrade? Why did you have to ruin my big moment?" Even when I was scared, hurt, and crying, I still had a joke left in me. Dimitri chuckled deep in his throat.

"Oh my Roza."

My head was throbbing, begging me to let go. I looked at him one more time. Feeling safe, I drifted into unconsciousness.

**How was it? If you all could write in your reviews songs that remind you of Rose and Dimitri, please please please tell me! I want to use them for inspiration! Thanks so much! Review!-xoxo-C**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm back! Thanks to all of you that reviewed! They really keep me going through the week and through my writing! On to the story!**

DPOV

I sat on the chair beside my bed watching Rose, willing her to wake up. She had been unconscious for three days. I guess her body and mind just needed time to heal.

I had not left her side the entire time. I sat and watched and waited. Sometimes I drifted off to sleep but never for long. I had to be awake when she woke up.

I prayed to a God I wasn't even sure was there. I begged, I pleaded, I bargained—I just needed her back with me. I couldn't live with myself if I let anything happen to her.

"Dimitri…" Rose croaked. My head snapped toward her. She was awake.

I slowly made my way over to her.

"I'm here, Roza."

She turned her head to look at me. "Hi," she said weakly.

I smiled as the tears welled up in my eyes. "Hey," I said back to her.

"Umm, can I have some water?"

"Oh right. Sorry." Come on, Dimitri. Don't be an ass.

Rose downed the water quickly. She drank like her life depended on it. She was so damn cute just drinking the water.

She made to move so she could sit the glass back down on the bedside table.

"Woah, Roza. Be careful."

She sat up in the bed. "I'm fine, Dimitri."

I watched her take inventory of her injuries. A look of confusion came across her face.

"Did somebody heal me?" she asked me expectantly.

"Yes," I replied shortly.

"Hold up. So you know another spirit user that can heal?"

"I don't. Yeva does."

"Of course she does," Rose said, exasperated.

"I wouldn't be so quick to say anything against her, Roza." She immediately got the look on her face that I had scolded her. "No, Roza. I'm not scolding you. I'm just saying that you should be thankful that Yeva told me where you were."

Confusion flooded her face. "Okay, so obviously you know a lot more than you are telling me. So go ahead with the story…from the beginning."

I knew this was coming. I sighed and began, "Yeva is sort of a fortune teller, a witch of sorts. The term is lost in translation, so I won't try to tell you."

"So Yeva knew something was going to happen to me?"

"Not quite. She didn't know until it was happening. She says we are connected. She could feel it in me that something was wrong with you. She told me to go find you."

"Wow, thanks Yeva," she said toward the ceiling to Yeva's attic room.

I chuckled. "Anyway, you passed out on the way home. Yeva's friend Anita was already here.

"The spirit user?" Rose asked to clarify?

"Yes, she is the one. You had a pretty bad head injury. She was surprised you had stayed conscious as long as you did. You also had broken your leg in three places and some ribs were broken as well. One of them punctured your lung and also caused some internal bleeding.

"Damn, I was pretty bad off," Rose said with a shocked look on her face.

"Language, Roza," I said as I gave her a small smile, "and yes, you were. The adrenaline kept you going."

"So Anita fixed me?"

"Yes, but she said you would be out for a while. The injuries, plus the hit on the head and the healing wore out your body. She said you would wake when you were ready."

"Wait, so how long have I been out?"

"Three days," I replied, not quite sure how she would take it.

"Oh." Okay, not what I was expecting. She then turned to look at me. She took in my appearance. "Please, please tell me you did not sit here the whole three days!"

"Guilty," I said sheepishly. Even if I had lied, she would have seen right through me.

A knock sounded on the door. Mama poked her head in.

"I thought I heard voices," she smiled at Rose.

"Is that food?" Rose, always hungry.

Mama just laughed. "Soup. You need to start off slowly. You haven't eaten in three days."

Rose's bottom lip pouted, but once the aroma hit her nose, she immediately changed her mind.

"Wow, who knew soup could smell so good?"

"Probably anything would smell good right now," Mama said as she set the tray on Rose's lap.

"Thanks, Olena," Rose said sincerely.

"You're welcome, honey. I'm going to head to bed now. It's already passed one o'clock. Dimitri, you should get some sleep, too. I know you haven't slept much the past three days." Mama gave me a knowing look as she closed the door behind her.

Rose finished the bowl of soup quicker than I had ever seen her down something in my life.

"Either that soup must have been good or you were really hungry," I teased her.

"Ummm, both?" she said, laughing.

Rose yawned. I guess being unconscious didn't get her enough rest.

I cupped her face in my hand. "Why don't you go take a quick shower and get ready for bed, okay?"

"Okay," she said moving slowly to the bathroom.

I watched her go, thankful she had come back to me.

She turned once she got to the door, "Thanks, Dimitri, for taking care of me."

"I'll always take care of you, Roza." We held gazes for a few moments before she continued into the bathroom.

I took the opportunity to change the sheets on the bed. Rose's cuts had bled onto them before she was healed. By the time I came back from depositing the old ones in the laundry room downstairs, Rose was just coming out of the bathroom.

I didn't think Rose could get any more beautiful than she already was, but this topped all. She stood before me, her hair wet, clad in one of my shirts and a pair of my boxers.

A slight tinge of embarrassment tinted her cheeks. She looked down before saying, "I hope it's okay. I thought sleeping in looser clothes would be more comfortable."

I couldn't even reply. I crossed the room in seconds. My lips crashed to hers. I kissed her with all the passion and love I had in me. I needed her to feel special, protected, loved. Thankfully, she kissed me back with as much intensity.

I licked her bottom lip, asking for entry. She obliged and fireworks went off when our tongues collided.

I moved my kisses to her neck. She wound her fingers through my hair.

"Dimitri…I'm ready."

I removed my lips from her just long enough to say, "I love you, Roza."

I slowly moved us toward the bed. I gently laid her back on it, as I continued to shower her with kisses.

She moved her hands under my shirt, tracing the contours of my abs. My hands trailed over her body, exploring her for the first time since the lust charm.

I felt her tug at the bottom of my shirt. I pulled back enough for her to pull it over my head. Her hands continued roaming my body, as mine did the same. I slowly removed her shirt, not wanting to hurt her sore body.

I paused to get a good look at her naked torso. She was perfect. My lips attached to her left breast, while my hands gave attention to the other. She moaned in pleasure. With every touch and every moan, I could feel myself growing harder. Tonight, it was finally going to happen.

I slid my hands down to pull my boxers and her underwear off of her. I let my hands explore her wet folds.

"Oh my God, Dimitri," Rose moaned at the contact.

Her hands began to travel lower until she played with the button on my jeans. I pulled back and kicked off my jeans and boxers. Everything was out in the open now—no judging, just love.

My hard cock was begging for release. When Rose looked at the size of me, a look of apprehension crossed her face.

"Roza, we don't have to do this." I was serious. As much as I wanted it, I would stop in a minute if she wanted to.

She took a deep breath. "No, I'm okay."

I resumed kissing her, still playing with her slick folds. I readied myself to enter, pausing to look into her eyes one more time.

"I love you, Dimitri."

With that, I entered her. I saw the look of pain that crossed her face when I broke her barrier. I gave her a few moments to get used to me. I slowly built up a rhythm. When the look of pain was replaced with one of pleasure, I picked up my rhythm.

"Oh, God. Yes, Dimitri! Don't stop!"

We were both getting close to our release. I pumped harder. When I felt her close around me, I released deep into her.

I slowly rode her out. I kissed her once more passionately before I pulled out. She snuggled in close to me. Nothing needed to be said. This was our small piece of heaven.

Our breathing slowed and I could tell she was close to sleep.

I heard Rose sniffle.

Immediately alarmed, I moved to look her in the eye. "Roza, what is wrong?"

"I'm scared to sleep, Dimitri. They are going to come after me."

"I'm right here. Nothing will happen to you." I placed a kiss on her lips before holding her even closer to me. We then succumbed to sleep.

**YAY! So they finally did it! Don't get too comfortable yet. A lot of drama is yet to come! Comments and constructive critisism is welcome! Review! xoxo-C**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm back again! Hope yall are enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it! **

DPOV

I woke up with a still naked Rose in my arms. This was how things were supposed to be, us together, blissful and happy.

My arm was asleep, so I tried to shift slowly without waking Rose up. When you want her to wake up, she doesn't; when you don't want her to, she does. That's my Roza.

"Morning, Comrade," she said sleepily.

"Good morning, Roza," I said quietly before placing a kiss on her lips. She kissed me back lightly. I think she was a little embarrassed by last night.

Just then, her stomach rumbled, breaking the moment.

I chucked deep in my throat. "Let's get you some food," I said as I got out of the bed and headed toward the door.

"Umm, DImitri?" Rose said between giggles.

"Yes, Roza?"

"Shouldn't you put on some clothes first?"

Shit, right. I quickly moved to throw on a tshirt and sweatpants. I threw her one of my shorts and a pair of my boxers. I could really get used to seeing her like that.

When we opened the bedroom door, the aroma of Mama's cooking consumed us. Not wasting any more time, we descended the stairs.

Mama took one look at us, and I knew we were busted. I guess it's true what everybody says about mothers always knowing everything—either that, or she heard Rose's moans. I blushed at that thought.

"Good morning, Rose. How are you feeling?" Mama asked.

"A little sore, but I'm fine," Rose replied. I caught the double meaning in her soreness, but I made no acknowledgment.

"How about you take it easy for a few days, okay?" Mama said pointedly.

"I know, Mama. I wasn't going to make her practice. I'm not that tough of a mentor," I said.

I could have sworn that I heard my mother say something to the effect of "not just a mentor anymore" under her breath, but I didn't comment.

Mama placed plates of steaming hot food in front of us. Rose was unusually quiet. I guess the emotional trauma was more than I had expected. I can turn off or cover my emotions, but Rose can't yet.

I placed my hand on her thigh, saying nothing. Nothing needed to be said. She just needed to know that she was safe here.

Mama continued to talk through breakfast—nothing much, just telling us her plans for the day.

Finally Rose spoke up. "Where is everybody?" she asked, just noticing for the first time.

"Well, Yeva is upstairs as usual, Karolina took Paul to the dentist, and Victoria left for school two days ago," Mama said.

"Oh dang, I forgot Victoria was leaving," Rose said, looking sad.

"I'm sorry, honey. She wanted to stay, but the school wouldn't let her. She said she would write to you as soon as she got settled."

"Okay," Rose said looking back down to her plate.

I rubbed her back gently. Being unconscious and missing out on things was hard for her.

"Why don't you call Lissa and tell her what happened? I'm sure she would want to know," I suggested.

Her face lit up at the mention of Lissa. I knew she missed her. I handed her my phone and she went out the back door to call Lissa.

"So, I see some things have changed," Mama said. I knew this was coming.

"Yes, Mama."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I saw for a few minutes what is was like to be without her. I know things are going to be complicated, but it's worth whatever I get with her."

Mama came around the table hug me. "I love you, Dimitri. Take care of her."

"I will, Mama."

Rose came back in at that moment. She looked away from our embrace not wanting to intrude.

Mama made to clean up our plates, as Rose sat down again at the table.

"Can we go take a walk or something? I really want some fresh air," Rose asked me expectantly.

"Sure, why don't you go change?" I walk would be good for her, not that I could have said no to her anyway.

I waited by the front door for her. When she emerged from upstairs, I took her hand and led her outside. It was nice not having to hide. I knew we would have to talk eventually about everything. There was the issue of her still being underage, me being her mentor at school, and guarding Lissa. I didn't want to talk about it just yet. I just wanted to enjoy the moment.

I led her the opposite way of where she was attacked. I didn't want her to relive that just yet. Hell, I didn't want to. I took her to a park where we watched young kids play.

"How did Paul react when he found out about me?" Rose asked. She would be more worried about Paul than herself.

I didn't want to tell her that he cried the whole first day, but I couldn't lie to her. "We didn't tell him until the next morning. When Karolina told him, he ran up to the room. He sat on the bed crying the whole day."

"Oh, poor Paul."

"Don't worry, Roza. Mama told him that he had to be strong, because the stronger he was, the stronger you would get."

"She always knows what to say," Rose said.

I didn't reply. We sat in silence for a while, until, of course, Rose got hungry.

I took her to a diner down the road. The menu was in Russian so I ordered for her. I had a feeling she would eat anything.

By the time she finished her meal, she was looking tired. I paid for our food and led her back home.

I sat down on the couch. Rose sat in my lap. I was a little surprised, but it was fine with me. I liked, and needed, her being close to me.

She rested her head on my shoulder.

"DImitri, what's going to happen with us?"

I didn't know how to answer that. "When we get back to school, things will have to be different. You are still my student and you are still underage."

I knew that wasn't what she wanted to here. "What about after?" she asked expectantly.

"I don't know, Roza. I really don't know."

"What does that mean for us right now?"

"Let's just take each day at a time. That's all we can do for now." I hated not being able to tell her what she wanted to hear. It wasn't what I wanted to hear coming from my mouth.

Rose kissed me lightly. "If we only have until we go back to school left, we have to make the most of it."

"What are you suggesting?" I raised my eyebrow in question.

"Take me to bed."

I didn't need to be told twice.

**Comments and constructive critism are always welcome! Also, if there is something you would like to see happen with them or suggestions, let me know and I will see if I can write it in! xoxo-C**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone! I would like to start off by saying how extremely sorry I am for making you wait two weeks for this chapter! You know those times when life is just kicking your ass? That is an understatement for me right now. Anyway, so sorry again. Thank you to all who reviewed! Your reviews really keep me going and keep me writing. So keep them coming! I need all the help I can get right now! Now-on to the story!**

**Not Richelle Mead...obviously**

DPOV

Our time in Russia was coming to an end. So much had happened over these four weeks—fights, attacks, sex with Roza. It was all the culmination of e best four weeks of my life.

I looked across the bed at Rose. We were packing the rest of our stuff. Our plane was leaving in a few hours. She was had all of her clothes piled up and was folding them. Well, attempting to fold them. I had never seen her move slower. I knew she didn't want to go back to school, but I never would have guessed she didn't want to go back this badly.

A small tear escaped her eye. My heart broke. I knew nothing I could say would make the situation better.

I crossed the room and went to stand behind her. I wrapped my arms around her stomach and kissed her neck. She sighed as she relaxed into me. Neither of us said anything; there was nothing we could say.

"DImitri?"

"Yes, Roza?" I knew what she was about to ask.

"What are we going to do when we get back to the academy?"

I took a moment to answer. "I know you don't want to hear it, and I don't want to say it, but we can't be together when we get back. To begin with, you are seventeen and I am twenty-four. That in itself would cause problems, not to mention that I am your mentor and you are my student."

"At least I was prepared to hear you say that." She lifted her hand to wipe away another tear.

I turned her around to face me. "Roza, this doesn't mean that I love you any less. That being said, we cannot do anything that would jeopardize you guarding the princess after graduation."

"So what about after graduation? What are we going to do about both of us guarding Lissa?"

"We will have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

I hated to say these things to her. I didn't want to hear them myself.

"This is going to challenge even your amazing self-control, isn't it?" she smirked up at me.

I chuckled. "I guess that means that I have to take advantage of the time we have left."

I looked at the clock. We had some time before we had to leave. And as for the clothes, well we could just throw those in the suitcase. Who cares is they are folded?

I crushed my lips to Roza's. As usual, she responded enthusiastically. I reached up to free her ponytail. I ran my hands through her long silky hair. My tongue traced her bottom lip, asking for permission. Gladly, she opened her mouth and our tongues met with a spark of passion.

My hands left her hair and trailed down the side of her body. Her delicate hands were teasing the waistband of my jeans. I moved my hands to her ass and gave her perfect little cheeks a squeeze. She moved her hips towards me.

I don't know how people talk during sex. My mind was too focused on the beautiful goddess in my arms. I gently laid her back on the bed. She started undoing the buttons on my shirt. I kept my lips attached to hers, while my hand traveled down to play with her through her jeans.

My cock was begging to be freed from the constraints of my jeans, but today was all about her. As soon our shirts and her bra were discarded on the floor, I moved my attention to her perky breasts.

Everything about her was perfect, from her heart to her head, to her breasts to her ass. I took a moment to revel in what would probably be the last time I would have her like this in a while.

She raised her hips to grind into me. Not wanting to disappoint, I slowly, tantalizingly, removed her jeans and underwear—that sexy black thong about did me in right there. She was already so wet.

She moaned as I entered one finger into her core, finding a slow rhythm.

"Oh God, more Dimitri."

Gladly, I entered a second and then a third. I made sure to keep my eyes on her face as she tightened around my fingers.

"Holy fuck, Dimitri," she panted as I kept pumping my fingers, letting her ride out her orgasm.

"Language, Roza," I said with a smirk on my face.

"You want language?" she asked raising an eyebrow, "just fuck me."

I didn't need to be told twice. I quickly tossed my jeans to the floor. I traced her core with my cock before plunging deep into her. She moaned loudly in thanks.

I got a steady rhythm going, plunging into her as deep into her as humanly possible. I knew I was getting close, but I wasn't going to come without her.

"Come on, Roza. Come for my baby," I said letting my Russian accent seep through a little more than usual.

As soon as she tightened around me, I shot deep within her.

"I love you, Roza," I said as I kissed her temple.

"I love you, too."

We lay there a moment, both wishing that this moment could last forever. The uneasiness of going back to school hung in the air around us.

I kissed her once more and pulled out. I would have given anything to stay in Russia with her by my side, but we both knew we had duties. _They come first_ had never bothered me until now.

The trip to the airport was silent. Mama drove, while Roza and I sat in the back seat. Rose in general was not clingy, but right now she was. I didn't mind. I needed her as much as she needed me.

She lay her head on my shoulder while I drew lazy circles on her thigh.

Mama looked back at me once and smiled. I didn't move, but nodded my head at her. I couldn't bring myself to smile right now.

The closer we got to school, the more upset Rose started to look. She hadn't let go of me during the whole flight. She was either holding my hand, or leaning her head against my shoulder, or sleeping with her head in my lap. I didn't want her to be away from me physically at all. I needed to know she was there. We had a hard road ahead of us.

As soon as we drove through the gate at school, all of Rose's friends were there to welcome her back. She looked back at me and I nodded for her to go with them. I was sure Lissa had missed her and had a lot to tell her now that she was back.

I looked at my watch. It was past curfew, but I should have known that wouldn't have stopped them from meeting us.

I went to my room and immediately collapsed on my bed. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. After sleeping in the same bed as Rose for a month, sleeping by myself was lonely to say the least.

I don't know how long I tossed and turned. I read my book, I concentrated on my breathing, hell I even tried counting sheep. I just hoped that eventually my body would shut down.

I resigned to the fact that sleep would not come tonight. I opened the curtain on my window and turned to lay so that I could watch the moon.

A knock sounded at my door. I sighed and got up to answer it. I swear to God, even if I wasn't sleeping, I was really not in the mood to take care of guardian things at the moment.

I wasn't prepared for what I would find on the other side of the door.

My perfect Roza stood there in her adorable pajamas. I could see her tear-stained face even in the darkness.

"I couldn't sleep," she said quietly. She seemed to be embarrassed.

"Oh my Roza, neither could I."

**So there it is! Review please! xoxo-C**


	13. Chapter 13

Rose Hathaway did not cry—at least not in front of me—but I saw the tears forming in her eyes. I gave a swift look down each side of the corridor and pulled her into my room. I enveloped her in a hug after shutting the door.

I didn't know what to say to make her feel better because I was feeling the same.

"Dimitri, I don't know how we are going to do this," she said into my chest after taking a deep breath.

"Me either, Roza."

I pulled away from her to look into her eyes. I held her hands and led her to the bed. After trying to straighten the covers as much as possible, we both climbed into bed. She turned her back to me and snuggled back into me. Tonight wasn't a night for sex. If snuggling was what she needed, then that was fine with me.

"How were things with your friends?" I asked, trying to get her mind off things.

"It was alright, I guess. Adrian was drunk as usual. Christian was his normal snarky self, and Lissa had more questions that a final exam," she answered with a small giggle.

"Let me guess. You had to tell her what you did every day from the second you woke up to when you fell asleep at night."

"Exactly. Although I left out the parts about us," she said sadly.

"I know, Rose. I wish I could yell from the roof tops how much I love you, but we just can't."

"I know," Rose yawned and wound her fingers through mine. "I love you."

"Goodnight, Roza."

Sleep came easily now that she was back with me. I knew at some point we would have to stop doing this, but this first night was rough.

All too soon, my alarm clock went off. Thankfully, I had an early shift, so Rose could get back to her room before everybody got moving.

I kissed Rose goodbye and went to get ready for the day.

As I was stepping out of the shower, I heard my phone ring. I checked the caller ID. Shit, it was Andre, one of the guardians. I really hoped that Rose hadn't gotten caught.

"Hello?" I answered apprehensively.

"Dimitri, glad to see you got back alright." Andre didn't sound mad, but that could just be from being a guardian.

"Yes, it was a pleasant trip." I wished he would just get on with it.

"Very good. I apologize for the earliness of the call, but Alberta wants to stage an attack today for the novices."

Oh, thank God. "I see. Any details?"

"Well, Stan will be giving them a heads up during their first class this morning. They will not be told when or how many will be coming. We will be attacking, for lack of a better word, half an hour to forty-five minutes before lunch. You will be with the older group of novices."

"Will they have stakes?"

"Yes, they will be in combat training class, so they will have their practice stakes. Just holding you down and holding the stake above your heart will suffice."

"Thank you, Andre, for the information."

"No problem. Anymore questions will need to be directed to Alberta." I heard the click on the other line, so I closed my phone. Finally, a chance for Roza to show out, I thought to myself. This was going to be good.

After my shift was over, I headed over to the guardian building to meet up with my group for the attack. Nobody was walking around campus at this hour, so we made our way to the gym unnoticed. No words needed to be spoken. We did this every year for the oldest set of novices. Stan kicked in the door and we were on.

I first met Eddie Castile. I had to admit, he was pretty strong, but did he have talent? I was about to find out. We circled each other for a moment, waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, after seeing he wasn't, I did. I lunged forward to get a blow to his head. Swiftly, he dodged my hit and got one himself to my ribs. I staggered back for a second, but not long enough for him to get the upper hand. I kicked his thigh at the same time I got a hit to his shoulder. While trying to get oriented again, I got another hit to his ribs. He fell over and I had "won" this fight.

"Not bad, Castile. Just watch for the double move." I gave him a smile, which he returned, before moving on to my next opponent.

Just before engaging with the next novice, I saw Rose take down Stan out of the corner of my eye. My heart swelled with pride. Hopefully, I would get over there to fight her too.

Rose must have distracted me pretty well, because I got a massive blow to my head. I turned to see Megan Black ready to engage with me. Unfortunately, she was no match for me. I had her on the ground on my first move. Oh well, not everybody is good at this.

Finally, after I saw Rose completely dominate Damon, I engaged with her. This was going to be an interesting fight. I knew her moves and she knew mine. I wanted her to beat me, but I sure as hell wasn't about to make this easy for her.

We circled each other for a few moments, getting our game plan together. I was going to attack with brute force, something I was hoping she wouldn't expect.

Finally, she lunged at me. I smiled inwardly. She always had to be first. Every blow I tried to get on her, she dodged. She actually got a few to me. I looked at her. She was so determined. I think she was taking out some of her anger about our situation. Whatever worked for her.

I lunged forward once more, getting a blow to her shoulder. She winced, but kept going. She swiftly maneuvered around me and hit my ribs with her elbow. As I was in preparation to kick her, I was only standing on one leg. Her blow knocked me off balance. She took the opportunity to hit my shoulder, effectively knocking me to the ground. She sat on me and placed her stake above my heart.

She had beaten me, and I couldn't have been more proud.

I looked at her in total admiration. I hadn't noticed that everybody had stopped their fights to watch us. The mentor and his student—nobody wanted to miss that one.

Some of Rose's fellow novices pulled her off of me to congratulate her. I walked up front to stand with the other guardians so that Stan could address them. These were bright novices; they knew what they did wrong. I saw Rose still talking to her friends in the back, clearly not paying attention to anything Stan was saying. I chuckled inwardly, keeping my guardian mask on to the rest of the group.

When they novices were dismissed, I followed the rest of the guardians out of the building. I wanted to talk to her, but I let her have her moment with the other novices. Just as she was leaving, I caught her eye and winked. There would be time to congratulate her later. She just earned herself some extremely hot sex.


	14. Chapter 14

**Welcome back! Let's get on with the story, shall we?**

**Not Richelle Mead**

DPOV

"How was the attack, Dimitri?" Alberta asked as I walked into the guardian building.

"I would say that it was successful," I replied with a smile. I tried to hide my wince as I sat down in a chair in the lounge.

"So I take it that Rose beat you." I chuckled lightly as Alberta took a seat opposite me. This woman always knew everything.

"Yes, she did." I could hear the pride in my voice.

"Ah, I see. Was she the only one that beat a guardian?" I could see the wheels turning in her head, thinking through all the novices.

"Andre Ocala came close to beating Miranda, but he wasn't watching for the double move, but yes, she was the only one."

"Very well, I will need you, as well as all the other guardians, to do a write-up for it. I need to see which students need improvement and where," Alberta said, as she rose to leave.

"Yes, mam. I will have it to you as soon as possible," I said sincerely. I was not looking forward to doing the paperwork, but I always liked to please Alberta.

Just as she was about to leave, she turned back to me. "Forgive my forgetfulness, but how was your trip?"

This was why I liked to please Alberta. She always took the time out to care. "It was very nice to see my family again. I think Rose really benefitted mentally as well. There were too many memories here."

Alberta smiled knowingly at me. Shit, she does always know everything. Alberta nodded at me and retreated from the room. I sighed in relief. I was sure she was going to mention something about us.

I smiled thinking about our time in Baia. I loved my family to no end, but that trip was all about Rose and me.

I was brought back to reality by a group of guardians entering the room. They each greeted me and sat down in the chairs and on the couches that littered the lounge.

"So, Belikov," Damn, Stan. I knew he would be the first to say something, "Hathaway beat you, huh?"

"She did, Stan." I did not want to hear anymore of Stan's shit now or ever.

"You didn't go easy on her, did you Belikov?" I noticed the other guardians ceasing their respective conversations and tuning into ours.

"If I had, it would have downgraded the integrity of the exercise," I scolded myself for letting Stan get me riled up, but he knew just how to get under my skin.

"I'll take that. Your integrity has never faltered," Stan challenged me with a pompous smirk. "However, now that I think about it, I might have another theory as to why she beat you."

"I am sure that you will tell me, Stan," I said, trying to stay calm.

"You got distracted by Hathaway's God damn sexy body," Stan said with a sneer.

That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, towering over Stan. "She beat me because I have managed to teach her something in the past few months that you never even attempted to teach her in the past 12 years. And as for her 'God damn sexy body', she is 17 years old. You, Stan, are 30 years old may I remind you. You are a sick bastard."

I stormed from the guardian building over to the practice building. Thankfully the dummy was already set up. I didn't even think; I just started punching. First, I saw Stan's face in my mind. He was disgusting. Sure, I completely agreed with his statement and yes, I was 24 years old. I was in love with Rose; he just lusted after her. I wondered for a minute if that was the reason for his apparent hatred for her.

I completely lost track of time, until Rose came into the gym. I heard the door slam and I immediately looked up at the clock. 2:30—I guess it was time for her practice.

"Dimitri, what's going on?" Rose asked looking concerned.

"It's nothing, just getting a little practice in," I tried to lie to her.

"I know you are lying, Dimitri. What happened?" She closed the gap between us in seconds.

"Stan got me riled up. Don't worry about it, Roza," I tried to ease her worry. She didn't need to know about what was said.

Our eyes met and I was overcome with lust and love for the beautiful creature standing before me. I took a quick look around and attached my lips to hers.

God damn I needed this. Our lips moved in sync, telling each other exactly what we needed to know. I slowly licked her bottom lip, asking for entrance. She obliged and our tongues met with a wave of passion. I moved my hands down her sides and under her perfect ass. I carefully lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around me, securing her in place. I moved my lips to her neck and quickly walked her into the locker room.

She moaned and writhed her hips against my crotch. I needed her. I needed to be inside her. With my lips still attached to her neck, I started the shower. My hands moved instinctively and began removing her clothes and mine. We then stepped into the hot spray.

Rose backed up until she was leaning up against the wall of the shower. I took a moment to look her over—her perfectly shaped legs, her tight stomach, her ample breasts. Her chest heaved unevenly, waiting for me to make the first move.

I closed the gap between us and took one of her breasts in my mouth. I moved tantalizingly slow as I swirled my tongue around. When I finally brushed my tongue over her nipple, she moaned loudly.

I chuckled deep in my throat and continued my work on her other breast. I felt her hands moving up and down my torso, never going below the belt. That little minx!

I kissed the path up to nibble on her ear, while one hand traveled to her already wet core. I moved my hands delicately around her, teasing her and never giving her what she wanted.

I could feel her tremble beneath me. "Please, Dimitri," she pleaded with me.

I attached my mouth to her own and said between kisses, "Not yes, Roza. Patience and self control." She harrumphed into my mouth, but began sucking on my tongue.

I slowly slipped one finger in her. I began pumping in and out slowly. I added a second and a third.

"Oh fuck, Dimitri!" Rose cried. My throbbing cock was begging for entrance and release.

"Tell me what you want, Roza," I said deeply. I removed my fingers from her and she moaned at the loss of contact.

"Tell me, Roza."

"Damn it, Dimitri. Put your cock in me now!" Rose cried.

I obliged by thrusting into her. We both moaned at the contact. I slowly pushed in and out of her, going deeper than ever before and almost pulling all the way out.

Rose began bucking her hips into me. I knew the slow pace wasn't what we wanted right now. I picked up my pace, slamming deep into her.

Finally, I felt her tighten and her juices flood around me. I shot deep into her, still pumping in and out, riding out her orgasm.

Our breathing slowed and I pulled out. I slowly kissed her lips, putting all the love I had for her in it. I pulled back and to look her in the eye.

"Rose, Dimitri," Oh fuck! Alberta! "I will pretend that this did not happen, but in the future, please lock the door."

I heard the door shut to the locker room. Rose's face was flushed with embarrassment. I looked deep into her eyes for a moment, before pressing a kiss to her forehead. Not being able to contain it much longer, we burst into embarrassed laughter.

**So how was it? REVIEW PLEASE!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm back! I really like this chapter, so without further ado...**

**NOT RICHELLE MEAD!**

DPOV

God damn my girl was sexy! I couldn't help but be in a good mood after our little rendezvous in the shower. However, I was now walking across campus and I needed to keep those thoughts out of my head for the time being.

I looked up to see a fellow guardian walking my way.

"Hello, Angela," I said politely as she stopped in front of me. "I heard your mother passed. I am so sorry that I was unable to attend the services. I was in Russia at the time."

Angela, whom I have always liked, smiled at me, "Thank you. We all knew it was coming. I am just glad she is no longer in pain. Anyway, enough of the pity party, Alberta needs to see you.

Oh, shit! I really hoped that this wasn't about me and Rose fucking in the shower.

I kept my composure, until Angela was out of sight. I took off walking as quickly as I could off to her office. I knocked on the door, praying that this would be about anything else.

"Come in, Dimitri," Alberta said from the other side of the closed door.

"Hello, Alberta," was all that I could muster.

"Sit down, Dimitri." I did as I was told before she continued. "Ok, well, let's get down to business. First off, I would like to know exactly what you were thinking doing that in the locker room shower?" She tried to sound stern, but I could hear the amusement in her voice.

"Um, well I guess I wasn't really thinking," I replied sheepishly.

"Obviously. You had better be glad that it was me that caught you. Someone else may not have taken that so well. However, I am going to suggest that you do not ever find yourself in that situation again."

"Yes, mam."

"Dimitri, you need to understand that Rose is 17 and still a student here at the academy. If anyone found out about the two of you, it could mean serious consequences for you and tarnish her reputation."

"I understand. It won't happen again," I said sincerely, looking Alberta right in the eye.

Alberta sat back in her chair and smiled at me. "You really love her don't you?"

"More than I ever thought possible." I always felt comfortable talking to Alberta. I knew that she would not betray my confidence.

"Sometimes, the two of you remind me of my situation back in the day." Alberta smiled and looked away.

My eyebrows rose in surprise, "Your situation?"

"Ahh, yes. My mentor and I had quite a relationship back in the day. Art and I—well, we had our fun."

"Art?" I asked, my mind's wheels spinning.

"Arthur Schoenberg." Alberta smiled at the mention of his name.

"Wow, I never knew," I looked at Alberta and saw the love still in her eyes.

"Well, of course you wouldn't. Nobody ever did."

"You still love him, don't you?" I asked. I could never imagine not being with Rose.

"Always." I could see the tears start to well up in her eyes.

"What happened?" I couldn't help but ask. They were so similar to Rose and me.

"We had jobs to do. _They come first_, right?"

I took a moment before I replied. "Right."

"Well, long story short, Dimitri. Cherish your time with Rose, but do not let me catch you again."

"Yes, mam. Have a good night."

….

…

….

I was filling in for Stan while he was away at court for a guardian meeting. I was currently teaching Rose's class on guarding theory and techniques. I glanced at the clock as I was currently finishing up the last concept for the day.

I couldn't help, but steal glances at Rose. She was sitting there in a low cut black shirt and some sexy tight jeans. She knew that I was watching her, because she kept leaning forward giving me a good view down the front of her shirt. God damn, she had great breasts. I couldn't wait to get my mouth on those.

I shifted my gaze away from her to avoid getting noticeably hard in the middle of teaching. Thankfully, the bell was about to ring.

I finished my lecture as the bell rung. "Thank you all, you are dismissed. Rose could you stay back. I need to talk to you about our practice schedule." Everyone gathered up their book painfully slow. Finally, Rose and I were the only ones left in the room.

"Dimitri, what's going…"

"Shhh," I interrupted her. I quickly walked to the door and locked it. I turned off the lights and made my way back over to her.

She had stayed seated, so wrapped my arms around her from the back and began to kiss her neck.

"Dimitri, we are going to get caught," Rose said just before she moaned when I hit her sweet spot.

"That's the fun of it." I placed small bite marks on her neck as I continued sucking. I moved my hand to cup her breast.

She placed one of her hands on top of mine when I began to massage her. I could feel her nipples getting hard beneath the fabric. I spun the chair around so that she would face me. I quickly attached my lips to hers. Our tongues fought for dominance, but she eventually let me win.

Her hand traveled to touch my jean clad cock. My dick twitched under her touch. I could feel her lips curve into a smile, but she kept kissing me.

I slowly moved my hand under her shirt, running my hand just beneath the edge of her bra.

"Dimitri, please. I need you to touch me." I needed no more prompting. I quickly removed her shirt and unhooked her bra. My fingers went to her nipple, pulling and rubbing. Her other hand that was not touching me, traveled down her body so that she was touching her pussy through her jeans.

She moaned as I continued my work on her other breast. "Touch me, baby."

I kissed her forcefully once more before I abandoned her breast and moved to remove her pants. I placed small kisses just above her underwear line. Her hips thrusted up to meet me. I moved tantalizingly slow removing her lacy thong.

I slowly moved my kisses lower and lower until my lips met her wet pussy. I darted my tongue out. She writhed under me, threading her fingers through my hair.

I placed one finger inside her, then another, then another. I brought her close to her release, but never let her cross the line.

My rock hard dick was begging for release. I used Rose's leg to create some friction. "Oh God, Dimitri. Shit, perfect," I knew I was doing good when she couldn't form full sentences.

My throbbing dick could take no more. I had to be inside her. I removed my jeans and let my dick free.

I lined up, ready to enter her…

A knock woke me up from my dream. GOD DAMN IT! I cursed inwardly. I groaned as I dragged myself out of bed. My dick was hurting more than ever. I love Rose more than life itself, but holy shit. I am a 24 year old man. I needed a fuck and I needed it now.

Wiping my eyes, I opened the door.

"Ahh, so I see that those dreams of your's haven't stopped," a voice that was not my Roza's said with a chuckle.

My head snapped up.

"Tanya, what the hell are you doing here?"

**Muahahaha! The drama is just getting started! I love horny Dimitri! REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS! xoxo-C**


	16. Chapter 16

**Ok so I wasnt't going to post this until I got more reviews, but I was on a roll. Anyway, before the next chapter is posted I need more reviews from my wonderful readers! On to the story! Say hello to the bitch!**

DPOV

Holy shit, this—she!—was not what I needed right now.

"Hello, Dimitri," Tanya cooed, "it's been a while."

"Umm yeah." I was at a loss for words.

I studied her. Maybe it had been a while, but she was still the same as she always was. Her fake blond hair was perfectly in place, with her too large chest sticking out. She was in clothes that were two sizes too small, and she had on more make-up than all the girls at the Academy combined. Yep, this was definitely the Tanya I remembered.

She took the opportunity to run her hands along my abs. "I see you are still working out. It's sexy." She raised her eyebrows suggestively at me.

"Working out is part of my job, Tanya." God, she had only been here two minutes, and already I was annoyed.

"It still doesn't make you any less sexier, baby."

"Tanya, what the hell are you doing here?" I needed her to get to the point already and leave me the fuck alone!

"Don't act like you aren't happy to see me. I know you better than anyone. Anyway, I'm just here to visit you," she said boldly.

"You are here to visit me? Yeah, right. What's the real reason, Tanya?" I wasn't convinced. This girl always had a hidden motive.

She placed her hand on her waist as she settled into her hip. "Just came to see you, baby."

A blush spread through my cheeks. "Stop calling me that. I'm not your baby," I retorted.

"Ahh, but you once were. Now, are you going to make me stand out in the hallway, or are you going to let me in?"

I didn't see any other option at the moment, so I stepped back to let her enter my room.

"Ahh, Dimitri. You could do so much better than this place," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm happy here," I replied, thinking of my Roza.

I flopped on my bed, while I settled in the chair and tried to focus on my book.

"So, what was the dream about? Was it about me?" she asked smirking, as she glanced at my still tented pants.

"No, Tanya." I was no not in the mood to deal with this shit, especially her shit.

"Found someone new to do the dirty with? She had better not be as good as me," Tanya said looking serious.

"It's none of your business, Tanya." I said no more, but buried myself in my book. Tanya sighed and settled in to fall asleep on my bed.

I looked up from my book to see that the clock was about to turn to 7:00. Thank God it was time to get up. I was thankful that I had a shift this morning so that I could get away from Tanya. I quietly moved across the room to turn the alarm off before it woke Tanya. Tanya was bad enough, but Tanya in the morning was worse than a natural disaster.

I got my clothes from the closet and headed into the bathroom. I quickly showered and finished my morning routine. Just as I was turning off the water at the sink, I heard voices outside. Shit, if that was Rose, I was going to be in so much trouble.

I quickly wrapped my towel around my waist and darted out into my room. My worst nightmare had become my reality. I saw the scene before me. My bed rumpled, Tanya standing there at the door with her bedhead, and my Rosa looking between us. I didn't know what to do to defuse the tension.

Finally, Rose spoke. "What the hell, Dimitri?"

"Roza…I…" I didn't know what to say to her without telling Tanya about us.

"Baby, who is this?" Tanya said in the most annoying voice possible.

"Baby?" Rose cried. I started to speak, but Rose caught me before I could say anything. "Save it, Dimitri. I'll see you at practice later—if you can drag yourself away long enough."

My Roza turned on her heel and sprinted off down the hallway. Tanya turned to look at me.

"That was a student, right?"

"Shut up, Tanya." I raced into the bathroom and got my clothes on in record time. I had to find Rose before she went to class.

I found her just as she was starting combat training. I knew she saw me, but she made a point of not looking at me. Damn it. I was in hot water over this one.

Knowing that Rose was upset made for one of the longest days. I couldn't wait for her classes to end, so that she could come to the gym and I could finally talk to her. The clock struck 3:00 and I headed for the gym. My beautiful Roza was waiting for me, looking pissed I might add.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Hey? I come to your room to find some bedheaded skank in your room and all I get is hey?" Rose yelled at me.

"Roza, it wasn't what it looked like," I tried to plead with her.

"First of all, do not call me Roza. And secondly, it sure as hell looked like what it most likely was." She was livid.

"Roza, that was Tanya. She was an old friend back in the day. She is harmless," I tried to convince her.

"If she is harmless then why was she calling you baby? Tell me, Dimitri."

"We, umm, we used to have a thing a while ago," I said quietly.

"What kind of thing?"

"We kind of slept together," I whispered as quietly as possible.

"There is no 'kind of', Dimitri. Either you fucked her or you didn't." I guess she did have a point.

"Fine, ok. I slept with her."

"How many times, Dimitri?" Rose asked quietly. When I didn't answer immediately, she asked again in a louder voice.

"Are you sure you want to know?" I didn't want Rose to know this stuff about me.

"I already asked you twice, Dimitri. Tell me or I swear to God I will ask her."

"Too many times to count. We used to be friends with benefits back in the day," I said, looking at her with all the love I could manage.

"So basically you are telling me that you were fuck buddies?"

"Yes," I figured that I might as well tell her the truth.

"Is that what I am to you? Just something to help with your throbbing dick?"

"No, Roza. You are everything to me. Making love to you is just part of it."

Obviously she didn't believe me. "Even if what you are saying is true, if your type is her, then what does that say about me?"

"It doesn't, Rose. You are two completely different people, and that's one of the reasons that I love you."

"Right now, Dimitri, I just don't believe you."

Rose threw her boxing gloves at me as she stormed past me. I heard the door slam, but didn't turn around. Tanya—I fucking hate that bitch.

**Reviews! xoxo-C**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello everyone! I hope all you had a great Thanksgiving. I don't want to sound like I am begging, but I do need reviews. I need to know if people are reading and what they think. So please, take a few minutes to review.**

DPOV

7:00

7:15

7:30

7:45

I finally gave up and left the gym. If Rose wasn't here for practice by now, then she wasn't coming. I knew Rose was pissed, but I didn't think she would skip practice. I gathered up the equipment that I had set out and put it back in its rightful place. As I made my way over to the guardian building, I saw Rose crossing campus to her first class. The way she was looking at everything but me made me think that she had seen me before I saw her. I looked up at the sky to see dark storm clouds rolling in. Kind of matched my mood right now.

I didn't know what to do about Tanya either. I had tried asking her to leave multiple times, but the bitch was still here. She pissed me off nearly as much as she pissed off Rose. I had some time before my next shift, so I settled onto one of the benches outside the guardian building.

It was time to call Mama. Maybe she would know what to do about Rose and Tanya. I dialed her number, and sat back to wait for her to answer.

"Hello?" her voice came.

"Hi, Mama, how are you?" I said in Russian. I missed speaking Russian. I would have to call Mama more often.

"Ahh, Dimitri! I am well. Everything is fine here. How about over there? How is Rose?"

I took a deep breath. "That's kind of why I was calling, Mama."

"I'm listening, Dimitri," Mama said sincerely.

"Ok, so you remember Tanya Mullova, right?"

"Yes, I remember that bitch," Mama said with a venomous tone.

I chuckled at that comment. Mama was not too happy when I brought her home. "Well, she is here and Rose caught her in my room." I stopped and waited to get yelled at.

"Dimitri, what were you thinking doing that with her? I know that you have a history with her, but that doesn't excuse it. And so soon after Rose too! Do you have any idea how much that hurt Rose?"

"Mama, we didn't do anything. Okay, well she slept in my bed, but I was in the chair," I tried to plead my case.

"It doesn't matter, Dimitri. The fact that you would even entertain the idea of her in sleeping in the same room as you is hurtful to Rose. I know that it will be different if that situation ever comes up when you are on duty with another girl, but this is Tanya, Dimitri. I am not blind or naïve. I know what she was to you and what you were to her."

"I'm sorry, Mama. Just please help me. Rose won't even look at me know," I needed Rose back and I was hoping that Mama had the answer.

"Show Rose that you love her. If she truly loves you, then she will believe you and come around."

"Thank you, Mama. I have a shift, so I will talk to you soon. Tell everyone that I said hello."

"I will. I love you, Dimitri," Mama said.

"I love you too, Mama. Bye."

I hung up the phone and looked around me. I noticed some of the guardians on the move, so I figured that it was time to change shifts. I walked across campus to my station and tried to formulate a plan.

I was so deep in thought that I did not realize that my shift was over until I saw Andre walking toward me. We nodded in greeting as we passed. I decided to go to the gym for Rose's practice, but I doubted that she would be there.

Just as I was reaching the gym, the rain started to come down. I moved quickly around the gym getting things ready for practice. I tried to think of something that wouldn't involve hand to hand combat with me today. Rose was bad enough, but a pissed off Rose was not something that I wanted to deal with.

I heard the door open and shut and I turned around. There stood the bitch.

"Tanya, what the fuck to do want this time?" I growled at her.

"Tsk, tsk, Dimitri. Why are you never in a good mood anymore?" She said as she walked forward sensually.

I was not in the mood to deal with her games today—or ever. "I am only in a bad mood when you are around, Tanya."

She kept moving toward me, but I stood my ground. She placed her hands on my chest before saying, "Well, let me change that. I always knew how to make you come undone."

I moved her hands forcefully and pushed her back a few steps. "I do not know what the fuck you want, but you are not getting it from me," I yelled forcefully at her.

I faintly registered the door opening, but I kept going. "I do not understand why you always come into my life at the worst times, Tanya. Yes, okay so maybe I once needed you, but it was only to get my mind off things. I fucked you and that was it. Get over it and get out of my life!"

"Just know that I am not coming back, Dimitri." Tanya turned on her heel and left the gym quickly.

I knew that I should probably feel bad, but I didn't. She had caused me enough trouble over the years that I really couldn't give a shit at this point.

"So, that was interesting," Rose said acidly as she came into view.

"I didn't think you were coming," I said as I met her eyes.

"I didn't think that I was either, but I figured that every practice that I miss puts Lissa in more danger. I have to be able to protect her when the time comes," she said as she averted my gaze.

"They come first, right?" I asked.

"They come first," she repeated.

I motioned for her to go run outside. Obviously, she was not having it.

"Dimitri, it is pouring rain. What if I get struck by lightening?" she complained as lightening flashed.

"Do you think Strigoi are going to care if it's raining?"

She said no more and stomped outside. I finished setting up the dummies and stakes for her. I figured that the dummy would be safe enough. She finished her laps quickly. I noticed that she had shaved 15 minutes off her original time.

"Okay, Rose. I know that we worked with dummies before, but this time we need to work on different ways to get to the heart."

I moved closer to her, and she didn't move, so I kept going closer. I circled around her and stood behind her. I wrapped my hand around her and touched her above her heart. Her breath hitched when I made contact.

"This is the best way to the heart," I said into her ear, letting my accent come through thickly. I smiled inwardly before moving my sliding my hand around to her side.

"This is another way," I said again, my lips barely brushing her ear.

I slid my hand around to her back, "and here."

We stood still for a moment, only our chests moving up and down. A loud clap of thunder brought us back to reality.

"Dimitri, I can't do this," Rose said as she moved away from me.

"You can't do what, Roza? You won't even listen to me long enough to hear me out," I said as I threw my arms up in frustration.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say," she spat back at me.

"Roza, you have," I tried to say before she cut me off.

"Just shut up, Dimitri, just shut up."

The door to the gym slammed closed.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, that is no way to speak to your mentor or a guardian," a strong voice came from across the gym.

We both spun around to face none other than Janine Hathaway.

**Review! xoxo-C**


	18. Chapter 18

**SOOO SORRY for not updating sooner! I have been swamped with finals and all other kinds of things, but I'M BACK! This will actually be the last chapter before I post the epilogue. So just a heads up on that. Enjoy the chapter!**

RPOV

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

I'm pretty sure that if my jaw could hit the floor, it did when I saw my mother. She always just popped into my life at the most inopportune moments. I thought my life couldn't suck anymore without Dimitri, but hell was I sure wrong.

" I came to see you," she said matter-a-factly.

"Why?" She always had some ulterior motive for coming to see me. Probably to reprimand me for something.

"I do not need a reason to come visit my daughter, Rosemarie," she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Damn it, this was really going to suck.

"Oh, ok. Well can I meet you in the cafeteria after practice? We can have dinner." I didn't need her around Dimitri and me together. She had a mothers' intuition.

"I can't stay and watch?" She sounded disappointed.

"No, I just can't practice with the great Janine Hathaway watching my every move!" I said. It was partly the truth. I just needed her away from me.

"Watch your tongue, Rosemarie. Speaking of watching your tongue—apologize to Guardian Belikov. That is no way to talk to your teacher and mentor."

Rose Hathaway never apologizes. I especially didn't want to apologize to Dimitri. He needed to be apologizing to me.

I knew my mother would never leave me alone until I did, so I sucked up my pride and said, "I apologize, Guardian Belikov, for addressing you in that way." That was a whole lot fucking harder than it should have been.

Dimitri just nodded at me. I could see the humor in his eyes. He was enjoying this.

"Very well. I will meet you for dinner," Janine said as turned around to leave. I stayed frozen to my spot until I heard the door slam. I immediately turned back to Dimitri, a look of fury on my face.

"I take back that apology. I only said it to make my mother leave me alone."

Dimitri sighed. "I figured as much," he said. "Get back to the dummy."

I did as I was told. I needed to hit something, anything. This dummy would have to do for now. I punched and I kicked. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I ignored them and kept punching. I faintly registered Dimitri telling me to stop. I couldn't.

I had to feel something other than my heart breaking. I now knew how Lissa felt. She needed the physical pain to take away the emotional pain. It's like those stupid quotes always said. You can put a bandaid on a sore pinky, but you couldn't put it on a broken heart.

Finally, the tears became too much. I threw my gloves off and sat down on the floor, my head in my hands. I sobbed until there was nothing left.

"Roza," Dimitri's voice sounded hesitant.

I couldn't answer him—not now. I heaved myself off the floor and ran out of the gym. I didn't know what else to do, so I ran around the track. I ignored anyone who tried to speak to me. Hell, I tried to ignore my own thoughts. I couldn't, so I just ran.

I looked up to see all the students going into the cafeteria. Time to face the music.

Spotting my mom's flaming red hair was easy. I went through the line getting food that I, for once, wasn't hungry for. I sat down at the table silently and waited for her to talk.

"How have you been, Rose?"

"Fine."

"I heard you went to Baia. Did you like it?"

"Yeah."

"Headmistress Kirova says that you and caught up and are actually exceeding some of the other novices."

"Mmhmm."

"God damn it, Rose! Answer me!" My mom yelled at me as loud as possible in the room without anyone overhearing.

I couldn't answer. Not her, not Dimitri, not anybody. I turned my chair away from her and stared across the cafeteria.

"Rose, is this about Dimitri?" Janine said, reaching out to touch my hand.

"What do you know about Dimitri?" I snatched my hand back away from her.

"I know more than you think Roza."

"Hmmph." I shook my head and continued to look away.

"Rosemarie, anyone with two eyes could tell that you are in love with him."

"How could anyone tell that?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"A mothers' intuition," she said. I could hear the humor in her voice. Yeah, fucking intuition.

"You don't know anything about it." I didn't want to have this conversation with anyone, especially the mother who only comes to see me when it is convenient for her.

"Rosemarie, I hate to see you like this—" I cut her off.

"You don't see me at all! You came for what, two days when one of my closest friends died? You didn't even talk to me then! So don't say that you can see something and don't talk like to know any of what is going on!"

"When I was 19 years old, I walked out on the love of my life. Don't make the same mistake, Rose." I heard her get up and leave. I saw her exit the cafeteria across the room. I bolted out of my seat and ran, ran to the only place I knew would make me whole again.

I threw open the door and ignored all the curious stares of the people I passed. I ran up the stairs, taking as many at a time as I could. I banged loudly on the door. He had to be in there. Please let him be in there, I pleaded to myself.

Finally, the door opened. There stood my Russian god, in all of his shirtless glory. I pushed him into the room and pressed my lips firmly to his. Tears streamed down my face, as I felt that I could finally breathe again.

"Roza," Dimitri started after he broke out kiss.

"Don't say anything, Dimitri. I'm sorry for everything. For blaming you and walking away, for not listening to you, for pushing you away. I'm sorry. I just couldn't stay away any longer. Every minute I spent away from you, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was falling apart, Dimitri! You are the only one that can put me back together again. You make me whole and complete and I am never walking away from that again." I said all in one breath.

Dimitri just stared at me for a moment.

"Umm, say something please. Anything," I pleaded with him.

"Oh, Roza. I love you." He crashed his lips to mine and proceeded to make sweet love to me. I was whole once more and forever would be.


	19. Chapter 19

**WOW! I am finally to the end of my first multi-chapter fic. Thank you to everyone who stuck by me! I hope you have all enjoyed my story as much as I did writing it! Love to all! Be on the lookout for my next story coming soon! **

DPOV

"Wake up, my beautiful Roza," I said in her ear. Roza had spent every night with me since we reconciled. I couldn't stand to be apart from her. I loved waking up every morning next to her. She was the first and last thing that I saw every day. That is how it should be.

I traced my tongue around the outside of her ear as I ran my hand up and down her thigh. I moved to squeeze her perfect ass. She giggled.

"I knew you were awake," I chuckled as I began to suck on her shoulder.

She turned to face me, bring her lips to kiss me. I trailed my tongue across the bottom of her lip. She opened her mouth and she let my tongue have dominance. I reached up to roll her nipple in between my fingers. She quickly discarded her tank top, so that she was just wearing her underwear.

I took a moment to look at my beautiful Roza. She was curvy where it counted and tight everywhere else. She was perfect and she was mine. My lips attacked her breasts, my tongue tracing around her nipples. I slowly bit down on one of them, giving equal attention to the other with my hand.

"Oh God, Dimitri, yes!"

I moved to kiss her stomach, removing her underwear as I did. I pressed my already hard cock into her thigh, letting her know how much I wanted her. I slid my hand down to cup her gently. I could feel how wet she was already. My two fingers went into her easily. I pumped them in and out slowly.

"More, Dimitri," she pleaded.

I added a third finger and let my thumb trace her entrance. She moaned into my mouth as I kissed her. When I knew she was ready, I slid my rock hard length into her core. She and I both moaned at the contact. I pumped gently at first. She started grinding her hips into me, so I pumped harder. Our peaks were reached simultaneously. I kissed her slowly as I rode her out.

She giggled as I pulled her in close to my body. I would never have to waste a good morning wood again.

"So, graduation day. Ready?" I said as I kissed her hair.

"Hell yeah!"

I chuckled deeply. "I love you, Roza."

"I love you too, Comrade."

We stayed in bed until we had to get ready to go to the graduation ceremony. As we emerged from the room, I turned to her.

"So, in an hour you will officially no longer be my student. You know what that means right?"

She smiled from ear to ear. "I can finally tell everyone that I have found the love of my life." She leaned up to kiss me.

"Sounds good to me."

"Let's do it."

I walked with Rose across the campus, with her hand in mine. I was walking with the only girl I would ever love. We had our whole life ahead of us. Could we do it? Hell yeah.

**LOVE TO ALL! XOXO-C**


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